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THE    GIFT 


ESSAI    SUR    LE   DON 

in 

SOCIOLOGIE    ET   ANTHROPOLOGIE 

Published  by 

PRESSES   UNIVERSITAIRES   DE  FRANCE 

Paris,  1950 


THE  GIFT 

Forms  and  Functions  of  Exchange 
in  Archaic  Societies 


by 

MARCEL    MAUSS 

Translated   by 

IAN    GUNNISON 

With  an   Introduction  by 

.   E.   EVANS-PRITCHARD 

Professor  of  Social  Anthropology 
and  Fellow  of  All  Souls  College,  Oxford 


COHEN    &    WEST    LTD 

68-74  Carter  Lane,  London,  E.C.4 
1966 


Copyright 


PRINTED    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN    BY 

LOWE   AND    BRYDONE    (PRINTERS)    LTD, 

LONDON 


INTRODUCTION 


By  E.  E.  Evans-Pritchard 

Fellow  of  All  Souls  College  and  Professor  of  Social  Anthropology, 

University  of  Oxford 

MARCEL  MAUSS  (i 872-1 950),  Emile  Durkheim's 
nephew  and  most  distinguished  pupil,  was  a  man  of 
unusual  ability  and  learning,  and  also  of  integrity  and 
strong  convictions.  After  Durkheim's  death  he  was  the  leading 
figure  in  French  sociology.  His  reputation  was  closely  bound 
up  with  the  fortunes  of  the  Annee  Sociologique  which  he  helped 
his  uncle  to  found  and  make  famous;  some  of  the  most  stimu- 
lating and  original  contributions  to  its  earher  numbers  were 
written  by  him  in  collaboration  with  Durkheim  and  Hubert  and 
Beuchat:  Essai  sur  la  nature  et  la  f auction  du  sacrifice  (1899), 
De  quelques  formes  primitives  de  classification :  contribution  a  f  etude 
des  representations  collectives  (1903),  Esquisse  d'une  theorie  generale 
de  la  magie  (1904),  and  Essai  sur  les  variations  saisonnieres  des 
societes  eskimos :   essai  de  morphologic  sociale  (1906). 

The  war  of  19 14-18,  during  which  Mauss  was  on  opera- 
tional service,  almost  wiped  out  the  team  of  brilliant  younger 
scholars  whom  Durkheim  had  taught,  inspired,  and  gathered 
around  him^ — his  son  Andre  Durkheim,  Robert  Hertz,  Antoine 
Bianconi,  Georges  Gelly,  Maxime  David,  Jean  Reynier.  The 
Master  did  not  survive  them  (d.  191 7).  Had  it  not  been  for 
*X  these  disasters  Mauss  might  have  given  us  in  ampler  measure 
CK  the  fruits  of  his  erudition,  untiring  industry,  and  mastery  of 
^2  method.  But  he  not  only  wrote  about  social  solidarity  and 
^  collective  sentiments.  He  expressed  them  in  his  own  life.  For 
.    him  the  group  of  Durkheim  and  his  pupils  and  colleagues  had 
^   a  kind  of  collective  mind,  the  material  representation  of  which 
^was  its  product  the  Annee.  And  if  one  belongs  to  others  and  not 
to  oneself,  which  is  one  of  the  themes,  perhaps  the  basic  theme, 


1539716 


VI  THE    GIFT 

of  the  present  book,  one  expresses  one's  attachment  by  sub- 
ordinating one's  own  ambitions  to  the  common  interest.  On 
the  few  occasions  I  met  Mauss  I  received  the  impression  that 
this  was  how  he  thought  and  felt,  and  his  actions  confirmed  it. 
He  took  over  the  labours  of  his  dead  colleagues.  Most  un- 
selfishly, for  it  meant  neglecting  his  own  researches,  he  under- 
took the  heavy  task  of  editing,  completing  and  publishing  the 
manuscripts  left  by  Durkheim,  Hubert  (who  died  in  1927), 
Hertz  and  others.  He  undertook  also,  in  1923-24,  the  even 
heavier  task  of  reviving  his  beloved  Annee^  which  had  ceased 
publication  after  191 3.  This  imposed  an  added  burden  on  him 
and  farther  deflected  him  from  the  field  of  his  own  chief  interest. 
Mauss  became  a  Sanskrit  scholar  and  a  historian  of  religions 
at  the  same  time  as  he  became  a  sociologist,  and  his  main 
interest  throughout  his  life  was  in  Comparative  Religion  or  the 
Sociology  of  Religion.  But  he  felt  that  the  new  series  of  the 
Annie  must,  like  the  old  one,  cover  all  the  many  branches  of 
sociological  research,  and  this  could  only  be  done  if  he  took 
over  those  branches  other  than  his  own  which  would  have  been 
the  special  concern  of  those  who  had  died.  Consequently, 
though  he  pubUshed  many  reviews  and  review-articles,  his  only 
major  works  after  1906  were  the  Essai  sur  le  don,  forme  archaique 
de  rSchange  (1925),  which  Dr.  Cunnison  now  presents  in  an 
EngUsh  translation.  Fragment  d'un  plan  de  sociologie  generate  descrip- 
tive (1934),  and  Une  categorie  de  V esprit  humain:  la  notion  de  per- 
sonne,  celle  de  'moi'  (1938).  His  projected  works  on  Prayer,  on 
Money  and  on  the  State  were  never  completed.  But  he  was 
active  all  the  time.  The  second  series  of  the  Annee  had  to  be 
abandoned,  but  a  third  series  was  started  in  1934.  Then  came 
the  war  of  1939-45.  Paris  was  occupied  by  the  Nazis,  and 
Mauss  was  a  Jew.  He  was  not  himself  injured,  but  some  of  his 
closest  colleagues  and  friends,  Maurice  Halbwachs  and  others, 
were  killed.  For  a  second  time  he  saw  all  around  him  collapse, 
and  this,  combined  with  other  and  personal  troubles,  was  too 
much  for  him  and  his  mind  gave  way. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  make  a  critical  assessment  of  Mauss's 
part  in  the  development  of  sociological  thought  in  France — it 


INTRODUCTION  Vll 

has  been  admirably  done  by  Henri  Levy-Bruhl  and  Claude 
Levi-Strauss.*  All  that  is  required  are  some  very  brief  indica- 
tions of  the  importance  of  Mauss's  work  and  of  the  Essai  sur  le 
don  as  a  particular  example  of  it. 

Mauss  was  in  the  line  of  philosophical  tradition  running 
from  Montesquieu  through  the  philosophers  of  the  Enlighten- 
ment— Turgot,  Condorcet,  St.  Simon — to  Comte  and  then 
Durkheim,  a  tradition  in  which  conclusions  were  reached  by 
analysis  of  concepts  rather  than  of  factSj_the  facts  being  used 
as  illustrations  of  formulations  reached  by  other  than  inductive 
methods.  But  while  that  is  true,  it  is  also  true  that  Mauss  was 
far  less  a  philosopher  than  Durkheim.  In  all  his  essays  he  turns 
first  to  the  concrete  facts  and  examines  them  in  their  entirety 
and  to  the  last  detail.  This  was  the  main  theme  of  an  excellent 
lecture  on  Mauss  delivered  recently  (1952)  at  Oxford  by  one 
of  his  former  pupils,  M.  Louis  Dumont.  He  pointed  out  that 
though  Mauss,  out  of  loyalty  and  affection,  studiously  avoided 
any  criticism  of  Durkheim  such  criticism  is  nevertheless  implicit 
in  his  writings,  which  are  so  much  more  empirical  than  Durk- 
heim's  that  it  might  be  said  that  with  Mauss  sociology  in 
France  reached  its  experimental  stage.  Mauss  sought  only  to 
know  a  limited  range  of  facts  and  then  to  understand  them, 
and  what  Mauss  meant  by  understanding  comes  out  very 
clearly  in  this  Essay.  Ij^isjo  see  social  phenomena— as,  indeed, 
Durkheim  taught  that  they  should  be  seen-— in  their  totality. 
'Total'  is  the  key  word  of  the  Essay.  The  exchanges  of  archaic 
societies  which  he  examines  are  total  social  movements  or 
activities.  They  are  atjhejame  time  economic,  juridical^  moral, 
aesthetic,  religious,  mythological  and  socio-morphological 
phenomena.  Their  meaning  can  therefore  only  be  grasped  if 
they  are  viewed  as  a  complex  concrete  reality,  and  if  for  con- 
venience we  iriafe  abstractions  in  studying  some  institution  we 

*  H.  Ldvy-Bruhl,  'In  Memoriam:  Marcel  Mauss'  in  UAnrUe  Sociologique, 
Troisieme  Serie,  1948-49.  C.  Levi-Strauss,  'La  Sociologie  frangaise'  in 
La  sociologie  au  XX"  sikle,  1947,  Vol.  2  [Twentieth  Century  Sociology,  1946, 
ch.  xvii) ;  'Introduction  a  I'oeuvre  de  Marcel  Mauss',  in  Sociologie  et 
Anthropologie,  a  collection  of  some  of  Mauss's  essays  published  in  1950. 


Vlll  THE    GIFT 

must  in  the  end  replace  what  we  have  taken  away  if  we  are  to 
understand  it.  And  the  means  to  be  used  to  reach  an  under- 
standing of  institutions?  They  are  those  employed  by  the 
anthropological  fieldworker  who  studies  social  life  from  both 
outside  and  inside,  from  the  outside  as  anthropologist  and  from 
the  inside  by  identifying  himself  with  the  members  of  the  society 
he  is  studying.  Mauss  demonstrated  that,  given  enough  well 
documented  material,  he  could  do  this  without  leaving  his  flat 
in  Paris.  He  soaked  his  mind  in  ethnographical  material, 
including  all  available  linguistic  material;  but  he  was  successful 
only  because  that  mind  was  also  a  master  of  sociological 
method.  Mauss  did  in  his  study  what  an  anthropologist  does  in 
the  field,  bringing  a  trained  mind  to  bear  on  the  social  life  of 
primitive  peoples  which  he  both  observes  and  experiences.  We 
social  anthropologists  therefore  regard  him  as  one  of  us. 

But  to  understand  'total'  phenomena  in  their  totality  it  is 
necessary  first  to  know  them.  One  must  be  a  scholar.  It  is  not 
sufficient  to  read  the  writings  of  others  about  the  thought  and 
customs  of  ancient  India  or  ancient  Rome.  One  must  be  able 
to  go  straight  to  the  sources,  for  scholars  not  trained  in  socio- 
logical methods  will  not  have  seen  in  the  facts  what  is  of 
sociological  significance.  The  sociologist  who  sees  them  in  their 
totality  sees  them  differently.  Mauss  was  able  to  go  to  the 
sources.  Besides  having  an  excellent  knowledge  of  several 
modern  European  languages,  including  Russian,  he  was  a  fine 
Greek,  Latin,  Sanskrit,  Celtic  and  Hebrew  scholar,  as  well  as 
a  brilliant  sociologist.  Perhaps  to  their  surprise,  he  was  able  to 
teach  Sanskritists  much  that  they  did  not  know  was  in  their 
texts  and  Roman  lawyers  much  that  they  did  not  know  was  in 
theirs.  What  he  says  about  the  meaning  of  certain  forms  of 
exchange  in  ancient  India  and  in  ancient  Rome  in  the  Essai 
sur  le  don  is  an  illustration.  This  was  perhaps  not  so  remarkable 
a  feat  as  that  he  was  able  to  show  from  Malinowski's  own 
account  of  the  Trobriand  Islanders  where  he  had  misunder- 
stood, or  had  inadequately  understood,  their  institutions.  He 
could  do  this  because  of  his  vast  knowledge,  which  Mahnowski 
lacked,  of  Oceanic  languages  and  of  the  native  societies  of 


INTRODUCTION  IX 

Melanesia,  Polynesia,  America  and  elsewhere,  which  enabled 
him  to  deduce  by  a  comparative  study  of  primitive  institutions 
what  the  fieldworker  had  not  himself  observed. 

The  Essai  sur  le  don,  apart  from  its  value  as  an  exercise  in 
method,  is  a  precious  document  in  itself.  It  is  of  great  import- 
ance for  an  understanding  of  Mauss  and  for  an  assessment  of 
his  significance  as  a  scholar,  since  most  of  his  other  well-known 
Essays  were  written  in  collaboration,  but  it  is  also  of  great 
intrinsic  value.  It  is  the  first  systematic  and  comparative  study  ,, 
(of  the  widespread  custom  of  gift  exchange  and  the  first  under-  j 
standing  of  its  function  in  the  articulation  of  the  social  orden)/ 
Mauss  shows  in  this  Essay  what  is  the  real  nature,  and  what  is 
the  fundamental  significance,  of  such  institutions  as  the  potlatch 
and  the  kula  which  at  first  sight  bewilder  us  or  even  seem  to  be 
pointless  and  unintelligible.  And  when  he  shows  us  how  to 
understand  them  he  reveals  not  only  the  meaning  of  certain 
customs  of  North  American  Indians  and  of  Melanesians  but 
at  the  same  time  the  nieaning__Q£-custoifts-4n  early  phases  of  ^iU^ — 
historical  civilizatiojis^  and,  what  is  more,  the  significance  of  '^ 
practices^in  our  own  society  at  the  present  time.  In  Mauss's 
Essays  there  is  always  implicit  a  comparison,  or  contrast, 
between  the  archaic  institutions  he  is  writing  about  and  our 
own.  He  is  asking  himself  not  only  how  we  can  understand 
these  archaic  institutions  but  also  how  an  understanding  of 
them  helps  us  the  better  to  understand  our  own,  and  perhaps 
to  improve  them.  Nowhere  does  this  come  out  more  clearly 
than  in  the  Essai  sur  le  don,  where  Mauss  is  telling  us,  quite 
pointedly,  in  case  we  should  not  reach  the  conclusion  for  our- 
selves, how  much  we  have  lost,  whatever  we  may  have  other- 
wise gained,  bj^he  substitution  of  a  rational  economic  system 
for  a  system  in  which  exchange  of  goods  was  riot  a  mechanical 
but  a  moral  transaction,  bringing  about  and  maintaining 
human,  personal,  relationships  between  individuals  and  groups.J 
We  take  our  own  social  conventions  for  granted  and  we  seldom 
think  how  recent  many  of  them  are  and  how  ephemeral  they 
will  perhaps  prove  to  be.  Men  at  other  times  had,  and  in  many 
parts  of  the  world  still  have,  different  ideas,  values  and  customs. 


K 


X  THE    GIFT 

from  a  study  of  which  we  may  learn  much  that,  Mauss  believed, 
may  be  of  value  to  ourselves. 

It  is  some  years  since  I  suggested  to  Dr.  Gunnison  that  he 
might  translate  this  Essay  of  Marcel  Mauss.  A  good  knowledge 
of  French  is,  of  course,  essential,  but  it  is  not  in  itself  sufficient 
for  the  translation  of  a  sociological  work  from  French  into 
English.  The  translator  must  be  also  a  sociologist,  or  in  the  case 
of  Mauss  better  still  a  social  anthropologist;  for  to  translate 
the  words  is  one  thing,  to  translate  them  in  the  sense  of  the 
author  is  another.  Dr.  Gunnison  has  both  requirements.  He  is 
a  French  scholar  and  also  an  anthropologist.  The  translation 
and  its  publication  have  been  delayed  by  the  need  for  revision, 
and  it  is  greatly  to  Dr.  Gunnison's  credit  that  he  has  found  time 
to  complete  his  task  in  the  midst  of  his  own  considerable 
anthropological  researches  carried  out  during  the  last  few  years, 
first  among  the  Luapula  peoples  of  Northern  Rhodesia  and 
then,  without  respite,  among  the  Baggara  Arabs  of  the  Anglo- 
Egyptian  Sudan. 


TRANSLATOR'S  NOTE 

The  editing  of  this  translation  differs  from  that  of  the  original 
French  edition  in  a  number  of  ways  which  it  is  hoped  will  make 
for  easier  reading.  In  the  French  edition  the  compendious  notes 
were  printed  on  the  text  pages.  Here  they  are  placed  after  the 
text  and  numbered  separately  by  chapters.  Some  short  notes 
have  been  combined  for  the  sake  of  clarity  but  each  note  still 
refers  to  a  single  subject.  Bibliographical  references  have  been 
standardized  throughout  the  notes.  The  whole  text  is  printed 
in  type  of  the  same  size  whereas  some  sections  of  the  original 
are  in  smaller  type  than  the  main  body  of  the  text.  Finally,  the 
orthographic  refinements  of  Indian  and  North- West  American 
words  have  not  been  reproduced. 

Mauss  used  the  words  don  and  present  indifferently,  and  here 
similarly  'gift'  and  'present'  are  used  for  the  most  part  inter- 
changeably, although  'gift'  may  have  the  more  formal  meaning. 
There  is  no  convenient  English  word  to  translate  the  French 
prestation  so  this  word  itself  is  used  to  mean  any  thing  or  series 
of  things  given  freely  or  obligatorily  as  a  gift  or  in  exchange ; 
and  includes  services,  entertainments,  etc.,  as  well  as  material 
things. 

I.  C. 


CONTENTS 


Introductory 

CHAPTER 

.1    jGifts  and 


THE   Obligation  to   Return  Gifts 


1 II  ]  Distribution 


Total  prestation,  masculine  and  feminine  property 

{Samoa)       .... 
The  spirit  of  the  thing  given  ( Maori) 
The  obligation  to  give  and  the  obligation  to  receive 
Gifts  to  men  and  gifts  to  gods 

OF    the     System:      Generosity 
Honour  and  Money 

1  Rules  of  generosity  [Andaman  Islands) 

2  Principles,  motives  and  intensity  of  gift  exchang 
[Melanesia)  .... 

3  Honour  and  credit  [N.  W.  America)  . 

4  The  three  obligations :  giving,  receiving,  repaying 

5  The  power  in  objects  of  exchange 

6  ^  Money  of  Renown'  [Renommiergeld) 

7  Primary  conclusion         .... 
Survivals  in  Early  Literature 

1  Personal  law  and  real  law  [Ancient  Rome) 

2  Theory  of  the  gift  [Hindu  Classical  period)  . 

3  Pledge  and  gift  [Germanic  societies) 
Conclusions   .... 

1  Moral  conclusions 

2  Political  and  economic  conclusions 

3  Sociological  and  ethical  conclusions 
Bibliographical  abbreviations  used  in  the  notes 
Notes  ....... 


Ill 


page 
I 

6 

6 
8 

10 
12 

17 

17 


31 

37 
41 
43 
45 
46 

47 
53 
59 
63 
63 
69 
76 
82 

83 


I  have  never  found  a  man  so  generous  and  hospitable  that 
he  would  not  receive  a  present,  nor  one  so  liberal  with  his 
money  that  he  would  dislike  a  reward  if  he  could  get  one. 

Friends  should  rejoice  each  others'  hearts  with  gifts  of 
weapons  and  raiment,  that  is  clear  from  one's  own  experience. 
That  friendship  lasts  longest — if  there  is  a  chance  of  its  being 
a  success — in  which  friends  both  give  and  receive  gifts. 

A  man  ought  to  be  a  friend  to  his  friend  and  repay  gift 
with  gift.  People  should  meet  smiles  with  smiles  and  lies  with 
treachery. 

Know — if  you  have  a  friend  in  whom  you  have  sure  con- 
fidence and  wish  to  make  use  of  him,  you  ought  to  exchange 
ideas  and  gifts  with  him  and  go  to  see  him  often. 

If  you  have  another  in  whom  you  have  no  confidence  and 
yet  will  make  use  of  him,  you  ought  to  address  him  with  fair 
words  but  crafty  heart  and  repay  treachery  with  lies. 

Further,  with  regard  to  him  in  whom  you  have  no  con- 
fidence and  of  whose  motives  you  are  suspicious,  you  ought 
to  smile  upon  him  and  dissemble  your  feelings.  Gifts  ought  to 
be  repaid  in  like  coin. 

Generous  and  bold  men  have  the  best  time  in  life  and 
never  foster  troubles.  But  the  coward  is  apprehensive  of 
everything  and  a  miser  is  always  groaning  over  his  gifts. 

Better  there  should  be  no  prayer  than  excessive  offering; 
a  gift  always  looks  for  recompense.  Better  there  should  be  no 
sacrifice  than  an  excessive  slaughter. 

Havamal,  w.  39,  41-2,  44-6,  48  and  145,  from 
the  translation  by  D.  E.  Martin  Clarke  in  The 
Havamal,  with  Selections  from  other  Poems  in  the  Edda, 
Cambridge,  1923. 


INTRODUCTORY 

GIFTS  AND  RETURN  GIFTS 

THE  foregoing  lines  from  the  Edda  outline  our  subject- 
matter.^  In  Scandinavian  and  many  other  civilizations 
contracts  are  fulfilled  and  exchanges  of  goods  are  made 
by  means  of  gifts.  In  theory  such  gifts  are  voluntary  but  in  fact 
they  are  given  and  repaid  under  obligation. 

This  work  is  part  of  a  wider  study.  For  some  years  our 
attention  has  been  drawn  to  the  realm  of  contract  and  the 
system  of  economic  prestations  between  the  component  sections 
or  sub-groups  of  'primitive'  and  what  we  might  call  'archaic' 
societies.  On  this  subject  there  is  a  great  mass  of  complex  data.  ^^ 
For,  in  these  'early'  societies,  social  phenomena  are  not  dis- 
crete; each  phenomenon  contains  all  the  threads  of  which  the 
social  fabric  is  composed.  In  these  total  social  phenomena,  as 
we  propose  to  call  them,  all  kinds  of  institutions  find  sfmul- 
taneous  expression:  religious,  legal,  moral,  and  economic.  In 
addition,  the  phenomena  have  their  aesthetic  aspect  and  they 
reveal  morphological  types. 

We  intend  in  this  book  to  isolate  one  important  set  of 
phenomena:  namely,  prestations  which  are  in  theory  volun- 
tary, disinterested  and  spontaneous,  but  are  in  fact  obligatory 
and  interested.  The  form  usually  taken  is  that  of  the  gift 
generously  offered ;  but  the  accompanying  behaviour  is  formal 
pretence  and  social  deception,  while  the  transaction  itself  is 
based  on  obligation  and  economic  self-interest.  We  shall  note 
the  various  principles  behind  this  necessary  form  of  exchange 
(which  is  nothing  less  than  the  division  of  labour  itself),  but  we 
shall  confine  our  detailed  study  to  the  enquiry :  In  primitive  or 
archaic  types  of  society  what  is  the  principle  whereby  the  gift  received 
has  to  be  repaid?  What  force  is  there  in  the  thing  given  which  compels 
the  recipient  to  make  a  return?  We  hope,  by  presenting  enough 


2  THE    GIFT 

data,  to  be  able  to  answer  this  question  precisely,  and  also  to 
indicate  the  direction  in  which  answers  to  cognate  questions 
might  be  sought.  We  shall  also  pose  new  problems.  Of  these, 
some  concern  the  morality  of  the  contract:  for  instance,  the 
manner  in  which  today  the  law  of  things  remains  bound  up 
with  the  law  of  persons ;  and  some  refer  to  the  forms  and  ideas 
which  have  always  been  present  in  exchange  and  which  even 
now  are  to  be  seen  in  the  idea  of  individual  interest. 

Thus  we  have  a  double  aim.  We  seek  a  set  of  more  or  less 
archaeological  conclusions  on  the  nature  of  human  transactions 
in  the  societies  which  surround  us  and  those  which  immediately 
preceded  ours,  and  whose  exchange  institutions  differ  frorn  our 
own.  We  describe  their  forms  of  contract  and  exchange.'ilt  has 
been  suggested  that  these  societies  lackdie^coH©fflie-«iaEket^_but 
this  is  not  true ;  for  the  maflcetrTf^aTHuman  phenomenon  which 
we  believe  to  be  familiar  to  every  known  Society  ."Markets 
are  found  before  the  development  of  merchants,  and  before 
their  most  important  innovation,  currency  as  we  know  it.  They 
functioned  before  they  took  the  modern  forms  (Semitic, 
Hellenic,  Hellenistic,  and  Roman)  of  contract  and  sale  and 
capital.  We  shall  take  note  of  the  moral  and  economic  features 
of  these  institutions. 

We  contend  that  the  same  moraUty  and  economy  are  at 
work,  albeit  less  noticeably,  in  our  own  societies,  and  we  believe 
that  in  them  we  have  discovered  one  of  the  bases  of  social  life ; 
and  thus  we  may  draw  conclusions  of  a  moral  nature  about 
some  of  the  problems  confronting  us  in  our  present  economic 
crisis.  These  pages  of  social  history,  theoretical  sociology, 
political  economy  and  morality  do  no  more  than  lead  us  to  old 
problems  which  are  constantly  turning  up  under  new  guises.^ 

The  Method  Followted 

Our  method  is  one  of  careful  comparison.  We  confine  the 
study  to  certain  chosen  areas,  Polynesia,  Melanesia,  and  North- 
West  America,  and  to  certain  well-known  codes.  Again,  since 
we  are  concerned  with  words  and  their  meanings,  we  choose 


GIFTS    AND    RETURN    GIFTS  3 

only  areas  where  we  have  access  to  the  minds  of  the  societies 
through  documentation  and  philological  research.  This  further 
Umits  our  field  of  comparison.  Each  particular  study  has  a 
bearing  on  the  systems  we  set  out  to  describe  and  is  presented 
in  its  logical  place.  In  this  way  we  avoid  that  method  of  hap- 
hazard comparison  in  which  institutions  lose  their  local  colour 
and  documents  their  value. 

Prestation,  Gift  and  Potlatgh 

This  work  is  part  of  the  wider  research  carried  out  by  M. 
Davy  and  myself  upon  archaic  forms  of  contract,  so  we  may 
start  by  summarizing  what  we  have  found  so  far.^  It  appears 
that  there  has  never  existed,  either  in  the  past  or  in  modern 
primitive  societies,  anything  like  a  'natural'  economy.*  By  a 
strange  chance  the  type  of  that  economy  was  taken  to  be  the 
one  described  by  Captain  Cook  when  he  wrote  on  exchange 
and  barter  among  the  Polynesians.^  In  our  study  here  of  these 
same  Polynesians  we  shall  see  how  far  removed  they  are  from 
a  state  of  nature  in  these  matters. 

In  the  systems  of  the  past  we  do  not  find  simple  exchange 
of  goods,  wealth  and  produce  through  markets  estabUshed 
among  individuals.  For  it  is  groups,  and  not  individuals,  which 
carry  on  exchange,  make  contracts,  and  are  bound  by  obliga- 
tions; *  the  persons  represented  in  the  contracts  are  moral 
persons — clans,  tribes,  and  families;  the  groups,  or  the  chiefs  as 
intermediaries  for  the  groups,  confront  and  oppose  each  other. ' 
Further,  what  they  exchange  is  not  exclusively  goods  and 
wealth,  real  and  personal  property,  and  things  of  economic 
value.  They  exchange  rather  courtesies,  entertainments,  ritual, 
military  assistance,  women,  children,  dances,  and  feasts;  and 
fairs  in  which  the  market  is  but  one  element  and  the  circulation 
of  wealth  but  one  part  of  a  wide  and  enduring  contract,  i 
Finally,  although  the  prestations  and  counter-prestations  take 
place  under  a  voluntary  guise  they  are  in  essence  strictly  obliga- 
tory, and  their  sanction  is  private  or  open  warfare.  We  propose 
to  call  this  the  system  of  total  prestations.   Such   institutions 


v/ 


4  THE    GIFT 

seem  to  us  to  be  best  represented  in  the  alliance  of  pairs  of 
phratries  in  Australian  and  North  American  tribes,  where 
ritual,  marriages,  succession  to  wealth,  community  of  right  and 
interest,  military  and  religious  rank  and  even  games  ^  all  form 
part  of  one  system  and  presuppose  the  collaboration  of  the  two 
moieties  of  the  tribe.  The  THngit  and  Haida  of  North- West 
America  give  a  good  expression  of  the  nature  of  these  practices 
when  they  say  that  they  'show  respect  to  each  other'.' 

But  with  the  Tlingit  and  Haida,  and  in  the  whole  of  that 
region,  total  prestations  appear  in  a  form  which,  although 
quite  typical,  is  yet  evolved  and  relatively  rare.  We  propose, 
following  American  authors,  to  call  it  the  potlatch.  This  Chinook 
word  has  passed  into  the  current  language  of  Whites  and 
Indians  from  Vancouver  to  Alaska.  Potlatch  meant  originally 
'to  nourish'  or  'to  consume'.^"  The  Tlingit  and  Haida  inhabit 
the  islands,  the  coast,  and  the  land  between  the  coast  and  the 
Rockies;  they  are  very  rich,  and  pass  their  winters  in  continuous 
festival,  in  banquets,  fairs  and  markets  which  at  the  same  time 
are  solemn  tribal  gatherings.  The  tribes  place  themselves 
hierarchically  in  their  fraternities  and  secret  societies.  On  these 
occasions  are  practised  marriages,  initiations,  shamanistic 
seances,  and  the  cults  of  the  great  gods,  totems,  and  group  or 
individual  ancestors.  These  are  all  accompanied  by  ritual  and 
by  prestations  by  whose  means  political  rank  within  sub-groups, 
tribes,  tribal  confederations  and  nations  is  settled."  But  the 
remarkable  thing  about  these  tribes  is  the  spirit  of  rivalry  and 
antagonism  which  dominates  all  their  activities.  A  man  is  not 
afraid  to  challenge  an  opposing  chief  or  nobleman.  Nor  does 
one  stop  at  the  purely  sumptuous  destruction  of  accumulated 
wealth  in  order  to  eclipse  a  rival  chief  (who  may  be  a  close 
relative)  .^2  We  are  here  confronted  with  total  prestation  in  the 
sense  that  the  whole  clan,  through  the  intermediacy  of  its 
chiefs,  makes  contracts  involving  all  its  members  and  every- 
thing it  possesses.^^  But  the  agonistic  character  of  the  prestation 
is  pronounced.  Essentially  usurious  and  extravagant,  it  is  above 
all  a  struggle  among  nobles  to  determine  their  position  in  the 
hierarchy  to  the  ultimate  benefit,  if  they  are  successful,  of  their 


GIFTS    AND    RETURN    GIFTS  5 

own  clans.  This  agonistic  type  of  total  prestation  we  propose 
to  call  the  'potlatch'. 

So  far  in  our  study  Davy  and  I  had  found  few  examples  of 
this  institution  outside  North- West  America,^*  Melanesia,  and 
Papua.^^  Everywhere  else — in  Africa,  Polynesia,  and  Malaya, 
in  South  America  and  the  rest  of  North  America — the  basis 
of  exchange  seemed  to  us  to  be  a  simpler  type  of  total  prestation. 
However,  further  research  brings  to  light  a  number  of  forms 
intermediate  between  exchanges  marked  by  exaggerated 
rivalry  like  those  of  the  American  north-west  and  Melanesia, 
and  others  more  moderate  where  the  contracting  parties  rival 
each  other  with  gifts:  for  instance,  the  French  compete  with 
each  other  in  their  ceremonial  gifts,  parties,  weddings,  and 
invitations,  and  feel  bound,  as  the  Germans  say,  to  revanchieren 
themselves.^*  We  find  some  of  these  intermediate  forms  in  the 
Indo-European  world,  notably  in  Thrace.^' 

Many  ideas  and  principles  are  to  be  noted  in  systems  of  this 
type.  The  most  important  of  these  spiritual  mechanisms  is 
clearly  the  one  which  obliges  us  to  make  a  return  gift  for  a  gift 
received.  The  moral  and  religious  reasons  for  this  constraint 
are  nowhere  more  obvious  than  in  Polynesia ;  and  in  approach- 
ing the  Polynesian  data  in  the  following  chapter  we  shall  see 
clearly  the  power  which  enforces  the  repayment  of  a  gift  and 
the  fulfilment  of  contracts  of  this  kind.  I 


^ 


CHAPTER    I 

GIFTS  AND  THE  OBLIGATION  TO 
RETURN  GIFTS 

I.  Total  Prestation 
Masculine  and  Feminine  Property 

(Samoa) 

IN  our  earlier  researches  on  the  distribution  of  the  system 
of  contractual  gifts,  we  had  found  no  real  potlatch  in 
Polynesia.  The  Polynesian  societies  whose  institutions  came 
nearest  to  it  appeared  to  have  nothing  beyond  a  system  of  total 
prestations,  that  is  to  say  of  permanent  contracts  between  clans 
in  which  their  men,  women  and  children,  their  ritual,  etc., 
were  put  on  a  communal  basis.  The  facts  that  we  had  studied, 
including  the  remarkable  Samoan  custom  of  the  exchange  of 
decorated  mats  between  chiefs  on  their  marriages,  did  not 
indicate  more  complex  institutions.^  The  elements  of  rivalry, 
destruction  and  fighting  seemed  to  be  absent,  although  we 
found  they  were  present  in  Melanesia.  We  now  reconsider  the 
matter  in  the  light  of  new  material. 

The  system  of  contractual  gifts  in  Samoa  is  not  confined  to 
marriage;  it  is  present  also  in  respect  of  childbirth, ^  circum- 
cision,^ sickness,*  girls'  puberty,^  funeral  ceremonies  ®  and 
trade.'  Moreover,  two  elements  of  the  potlatch  have  in  fact 
been  attested  to:  the  honour,  prestige  or  mana  which  wealth 
confers;  ^  and  the  absolute  obligation  to  make  return  gifts 
under  the  penalty  of  losing  the  mana,  authority  and  wealth.' 

Turner  tells  us  that  on  birth  ceremonies,  after  receiving  the 
oloa  and  the  tonga,  the  'masculine'  and  'feminine'  property, 
'the  husband  and  wife  were  left  no  richer  than  they  were. 
Still,  they  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  what  they  considered 
to  be  a  great  honour,  namely,  the  heaps  of  property  collected 


GIFTS    AND    RETURN    GIFTS  7 

on  the  occasion  of  the  birth  of  their  child.'  ^"  These  gifts  are 
probably  of  an  obligatory  and  permanent  nature,  and  returns 
are  made  only  through  the  system  of  rights  which  compels 
them.  In  this  society,  where  cross-cousin  marriage  is  the  rule, 
a  man  gives  his  child  to  his  sister  and  brother-in-law  to  bring 
up;  and  the  brother-in-law,  who  is  the  child's  maternal  uncle, 
calls  the  child  a  tonga^  a  piece  of  feminine  property.^^  It  is  then 
a  'channel  through  which  native  property  ^^  or  tonga,  continues 
to  flow  to  that  family  from  the  parents  of  the  child.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  child  is  to  its  parents  a  source  of  foreign 
property  or  oloa,  coming  from  the  parties  who  adopt  it,  as  long 
as  the  child  lives.'  'This  sacrifice  of  natural  ties  creates  a 
systematic  facility  in  native  and  foreign  property.'  In  short, 
the  child  (feminine  property)  is  the  means  whereby  the 
maternal  family's  property  is  exchanged  for  that  of  the  paternal 
family.  Since  the  child  in  fact  lives  with  his  maternal  uncle  he 
clearly  has  a  right  to  live  there  and  thus  has  a  general  right 
over  his  uncle's  property.  This  system  of  fosterage  is  much  akin 
to  the  generally  recognized  right  of  the  sister's  son  over  his 
uncle's  property  in  Melanesia.^^  We  need  only  the  elements  of 
rivalry,  fighting  and  destruction  for  the  complete  potlatch. 

Now  let  us  consider  the  terms  oloa  and  more  particularly 
tonga.  The  latter  means  indestructible  property,  especially  the 
marriage  mats  ^*  inherited  by  the  daughters  of  a  marriage,  and 
the  trinkets  and  talismans  which,  on  condition  of  repayment, 
come  through  the  wife  into  the  newly  founded  family;  these 
constitute  real  property.^*  The  oloa  designates  all  the  things 
which  are  particularly  the  husband's  personal  property.^*  This 
term  is  also  applied  today  to  things  obtained  from  Europeans, 
clearly  a  recent  extension.^'  We  may  disregard  as  inexact  and 
insufficient  the  translation  suggested  by  Turner  of  oloa  as 
foreign  and  tonga  as  native;  yet  it  is  not  without  significance, 
since  it  suggests  that  certain  property  called  tonga  is  more 
closely  bound  up  with  the  land,  the  clan  and  the  family  than 
certain  other  property  called  oloa.^^ 

But  if  we  extend  our  field  of  observation  we  immediately 
find   a  wider   meaning  of  the   notion   tonga.    In   the    Maori, 


8  THE     GIFT 

Tahitian,  Tongan  and  Mangarevan  languages  it  denotes 
everything  which  may  be  rightly  considered  property,  which 
makes  a  man  rich,  powerful  or  influential,  and  which  can  be 
exchanged  or  used  as  compensation:  that  is  to  say,  such  objects 
of  value  as  emblems,  charms,  mats  and  sacred  idols,  and  per- 
haps even  traditions,  magic  and  ritual.^'  Here  we  meet  that 
notion  of  magical  property  which  we  believe  to  be  widely 
spread  in  the  Malayo-Polynesian  world  and  right  over  the 
Pacific.2o 


2.  The  Spirit  of  the  Thing  Given 

(Maori) 

This  last  remark  leads  to  a  contention  of  some  importance. 
The  taonga  are,  at  any  rate  with  the  Maori,  closely  attached  to 
the  individual,  the  clan  and  the  land;  they  are  the  vehicle  of 
their  mana — magical,  religious  and  spiritual  power.  In  a 
proverb  collected  by  Sir  G.  Grey  "  and  C,  O.  Davis, ^^  taonga 
are  asked  to  destroy  the  person  who  receives  them;  and  they 
have  the  power  to  do  this  if  the  law,  or  rather  the  obligation, 
about  making  a  return  gift  is  not  observed. 

Our  late  friend  Hertz  saw  the  significance  of  this;  disin- 
terestedly he  had  written  'for  Davy  and  Mauss'  on  the  card 
containing  the  following  note  by  Colenso :  'They  had  a  kind  of 
system  of  exchange,  or  rather  of  giving  presents  which  had 
later  to  be  exchanged  or  repaid.'  ^^  For  example,  they  exchange 
dried  fish  for  pickled  birds  and  mats.^*  The  exchange  is  carried 
out  between  tribes  or  acquainted  families  without  any  kind  of 
stipulation. 

But  Hertz  had  also  found — I  discovered  it  amongst  his 
papers — a  text  whose  significance  we  had  both  missed,  for 
I  had  been  unaware  of  it  myself.  Speaking  of  the  hau,  the  spirit 
of  things  and  particularly  of  the  forest  and  forest  game,  Tamati 
Ranaipiri,  one  of  Mr.  Elsdon  Best's  most  useful  informants, 
gives  quite  by  chance  the  key  to  the  whole  problem. ^^  'I  shall 
tell  you  about  hau.  Hau  is  not  the  wind.  Not  at  all.  Suppose  you 
have  some  particular  object,  taonga,  and  you  give  it  to  me;  you 


GIFTS    AND    RETURN    GIFTS  9 

give  it  to  me  without  a  price.  ^^  We  do  not  bargain  over  it.  Now 
I  give  this  thing  to  a  third  person  who  after  a  time  decides  to 
give  me  something  in  repayment  for  it  (utu),^''  and  he  makes 
me  a  present  of  something  [taonga] .  Now  this  taonga  I  received 
from  him  is  the  spirit  {hau)  of  the  taonga  I  received  from  you 
and  which  I  passed  on  to  him.  The  taonga  which  I  receive  on 
account  of  the  taonga  that  came  from  you,  I  must  return  to 
you.  It  would  not  be  right  on  my  part  to  keep  these  taonga 
whether  they  were  desirable  or  not.  I  must  give  them  to  you 
since  they  are  the  hau  ^^  of  the  taonga  which  you  gave  me.  If 
I  were  to  keep  this  second  taonga  for  myself  I  might  become  ill 
or  even  die.  Such  is  hau,  the  hau  of  personal  property,  the  hau 
of  the  taonga,  the  hau  of  the  forest.  Enough  on  that  subject.' 

This  capital  text  deserves  comment.  It  is  characteristic  of 
the  indefinite  legal  and  religious  atmosphere  of  the  Maori  and 
their  doctrine  of  the  'house  of  secrets' ;  it  is  surprisingly  clear 
in  places  and  offers  only  one  obscurity:  the  intervention  of  a 
third  person.  But  to  be  able  to  understand  this  Maori  lawyer 
we  need  only  say:  'The  taonga  and  all  strictly  personal  posses- 
sions have  a  hau,  a  spiritual  power.  You  give  me  taonga,  I  give 
it  to  another,  the  latter  gives  me  taonga  back,  since  he  is  forced 
to  do  so  by  the  hau  of  my  gift ;  and  I  am  obliged  to  give  this 
one  to  you  since  I  must  return  to  you  what  is  in  fact  the  product 
of  the  hau  of  your  taonga.'' 

Interpreted  thus  not  only  does  the  meaning  become  clear, 
but  it  is  found  to  emerge  as  one  of  the  leitmotifs  of  Maori 
custom.  The  obligation  attached  to  a  gift  itself  is  not  inert. 
Even  when  abandoned  by  the  giver,  it  still  forms  a  part  of  him. 
Through  it  he  has  a  hold  over  the  recipient,  just  as  he  had, 
while  its  owner,  a  hold  over  anyone  who  stole  it.^*  For  the 
taonga  is  animated  with  the  hau  of  its  forest,  its  soil,  its  homeland, 
and  the  hau  pursues  him  who  holds  it.^" 

It  pursues  not  only  the  first  recipient  of  it  or  the  second  or 
the  third,  but  every  individual  to  whom  the  taonga  is  trans- 
mitted.^^ The  hau  wants  to  return  to  the  place  of  its  birth,  to 
its  sanctuary  of  forest  and  clan  and  to  its  owner.  The  taonga  or 
its  hau — itself  a  kind  of  individual  '^ — constrains  a  series  of  users 


10  THE    GIFT 

to  return  some  kind  of  taonga  of  their  own,  some  property  or 
merchandise  or  labour,  by  means  of  feasts,  entertainments  or 
gifts  of  equivalent  or  superior  value.  Such  a  return  will  give  its 
donor  authority  and  power  over  the  original  donor,  who  now 
becomes  the  latest  recipient.  That  seems  to  be  the  motivating 
force  behind  the  obligatory  circulation  of  wealth,  tribute  and 
gifts  in  Samoa  and  New  Zealand. 

This  or  something  parallel  helps  to  explain  two  sets  of 
important  social  phenomena  in  Polynesia  and  elsewhere.  We 
can  see  the  nature  of  the  bond  created  by  the  transfer  of  a 
possession.  We  shall  return  shortly  to  this  point  and  show  how 
our  facts  contribute  to  a  general  theory  of  obligation.  But  for 
the  moment  it  is  clear  that  in  Maori  custom  this  bond  created 
by  things  is  in  fact  a  bond  between  persons,  since  the  thing 
itself  is  a  person  or  pertains  to  a  person.  Hence  it  follows  that 
to  give  something  is  to  give  a  part  of  oneself  Secondly,  we  are 
led  to  a  better  understanding  of  gift  exchange  and  total  presta- 
tion, including  the  potlatch.  It  follows  clearly  from  what  we 
have  seen  that  in  this  system  of  ideas  one  gives  away  what  is  in 
reality  a  part  of  one's  nature  and  substance,  while  to  receive 
something  is  to  receive  a  part  of  someone's  spiritual  essence. 
To  keep  this  thing  is  dangerous,  not  only  because  it  is  illicit  to 
do  so,  but  also  because  it  comes  morally,  physically  and 
spiritually  from  a  person.  Whatever  it  is,  food,^^  possessions, 
women,  children  or  ritual,  it  retains  a  magical  and  religious 
hold  over  the  recipient.  The  thing  given  is  not  inert.  It  is  alive 
and  often  personified,  and  strives  to  bring  to  its  original  clan 
and  homeland  some  equivalent  to  take  its  place. 

3.  The  Obligation  to  Give  and  the  Obligation  to 

Receive 

To  appreciate  fully  the  institutions  of  total  prestation  and 
the  potlatch  we  must  seek  to  explain  two  complementary 
factors.  Total  prestation  not  only  carries  with  it  the  obligation 
to  repay  gifts  received,  but  it  implies  two  others  equally 
important:  the  obligation  to  give  presents  and  the  obligation 


GIFTS    AND    RETURN    GIFTS 


I  I 


to  receive  them.  A  complete  theory  of  the  three  obHgations 
would  include  a  satisfactory  fundamental  explanation  of  this 
form  of  contract  among  Polynesian  clans.  For  the  moment  we 
simply  indicate  the  manner  in  which  the  subject  might  be 
treated. 

It  is  easy  to  find  a  large  number  of  facts  on  the  obligation 
to  receive.  A  clan,  household,  association  or  guest  are  con- 
strained to  demand  hospitality,^*  to  receive  presents,  to  barter^^ 
or  to  make  blood  and  marriage  alliances.  The  Dayaks  have 
even  developed  a  whole  set  of  customs  based  on  the  obligation 
to  partake  of  any  meal  at  which  one  is  present  or  which  one 
has  seen  in  preparation.^^ 

The  obligation  to  give  is  no  less  important.  If  we  under- 
stood this,  we  should  also  know  how  men  came  to  exchange 
things  with  each  other.  We  merely  point  out  a  few  facts.  To 
refuse  to  give,  or  to  fail  to  invite,  is — like  refusing  to  accept — 
the  equivalent  of  a  declaration  of  war;  it  is  a  refusal  of  friend- 
ship and  intercourse.^'  Again,  one  gives  because  one  is  forced 
to  do  so,  because  the  recipient  has  a  sort  of  proprietary  right 
over  everything  which  belongs  to  the  donor.^^  This  right  is 
expressed  and  conceived  as  a  sort  of  spiritual  bond.  Thus  in 
Australia  the  man  who  owes  all  the  game  he  kills  to  his  father- 
and  mother-in-law  may  eat  nothing  in  their  presence  for 
fear  that  their  very  breath  should  poison  his  food.^*  We  have 
seen  above  that  the  taonga  sister's  son  has  customs  of  this  kind 
in  Samoa,  which  are  comparable  with  those  of  the  sister's  son 
{vasu)  in  Fiji.*" 

In  all  these  instances  there  is  a  series  of  rights  and  duties 
about  consuming  and  repaying  existing  side  by  side  with  rights 
and  duties  about  giving  and  receiving.  The  pattern  of  sym- 
metrical and  reciprocal  rights  is  not  difficult  to  understand  if 
we  realize  that  it  is  first  and  foremost  a  pattern  of  spiritual 
bonds  between  things  which  are  to  some  extent  parts  of  persons, 
and  persons  and  groups  that  behave  in  some  measure  as  if  they  i 
were  things.  ' 

All  these  institutions  reveal  the  same  kind  of  social  and! 
psychological   pattern.    Food,    women,    children,    possessions,! 


^^ 


\)\^^ 


12  THE    GIFT 

charms,  land,  labour,  services,  religious  offices,  rank — every- 
thing is  stuff  to  be  given  away  and  repaid.  In  perpetual 
interchange  of  what  we  may  call  spiritual  matter,  comprising 
men  and  things,  these  elements  pass  and  repass  between  clans 
^and  individuals,  ranks,  sexes  and  generations. 


4.  Gifts  to  Men  and  Gifts  to  Gods 

Another  theme  plays  its  part  in  the  economy  and  morality 
of  the  gift:  that  of  the  gift  made  to  men  in  the  sight  of  gods  or 
nature.  We  have  not  undertaken  the  wider  study  necessary  to 
reveal  its  real  import;  for  the  facts  at  our  disposal  do  not  all 
come  from  the  areas  to  which  we  have  limited  ourselves;  and 
a  strongly  marked  mythological  element  which  we  do  not  yet 
fully  understand  prevents  us  from  advancing  a  theory.  We 
simply  give  some  indications  of  the  theme. 

In  the  societies  of  North-East  Siberia  '"■  and  amongst  the 
Eskimo  of  West  Alaska  ^^  and  the  Asiatic  coast  of  the  Behring 
Straits,  the  potlatch  concerns  not  only  men  who  rival  each 
other  in  generosity,  and  the  objects  they  transmit  or  destroy, 
and  the  spirits  of  the  dead  which  take  part  in  the  transactions 
and  whose  names  the  men  bear;  it  concerns  nature  as  well. 
Exchanges  between  namesakes — people  named  after  the  same 
spirits — incite  the  spirits  of  the  dead,  of  gods,  animals  and 
natural  objects  to  be  generous  towards  them.*^  Men  say  that 
gift-exchange  brings  abundance  of  wealth.  Nelson  and  Porter 
have  given  us  good  descriptions  of  these  ceremonies  and  the 
effect  they  have  on  the  dead,  on  the  game,  the  fish  and  shell- 
fish of  the  Eskimo.  They  are  expressively  called,  in  the  language 
of  British  trappers,  the  'Asking  Festival'  or  the  'Inviting-in 
Festival'.**  Ordinarily  they  are  not  confined  within  the  hmits 
of  winter  settlements.  The  effect  upon  nature  has  been  well 
shown  in  a  recent  work  on  the  Eskimo.*^ 

The  Yuit  have  a  mechanism,  a  wheel  decorated  with  all 
manner  of  provisions,  carried  on  a  greasy  pole  surmounted 
with  the  head  of  a  walrus.  The  top  of  the  pole  protrudes  above 
the  tent  of  which  it  forms  the  centre.  Inside  the  tent  it  is 


GIFTS     AND     RETURN     GIFTS  I3 

manoeuvred  by  means  of  another  wheel  and  is  made  to  turn 
clockwise  like  the  sun.  It  would  be  hard  to  find  a  better 
expression  of  this  mode  of  thought.*^ 

The  theme  is  also  to  be  found  with  the  Koryak  and  Ghuk- 
chee  of  the  extreme  north-west  of  Siberia.*'  Both  have  the 
potlatch.  But  it  is  the  maritime  Chukchee  who,  like  their 
Yuit  neighbours,  practise  most  the  obligatory-voluntary  gift- 
exchanges  in  the  course  of  protracted  thanksgiving  ceremonies 
which  follow  one  after  the  other  in  every  house  throughout  the 
winter.  The  remains  of  the  festival  sacrifice  are  thrown  into 
the  sea  or  cast  to  the  winds;  they  return  to  their  original  home, 
taking  with  them  all  the  game  killed  that  year,  ready  to  return 
again  in  the  next.  Jochelsen  mentions  festivals  of  the  same  kind 
among  the  Koryak,  although  he  was  present  only  at  the  whale 
festival.  The  system  of  sacrifice  seems  there  to  be  very  highly 
developed.*^ 

Bogoras  rightly  compares  these  with  the  Russian  koliada 
customs  in  which  masked  children  go  from  house  to  house 
begging  eggs  and  flour  and  none  dare  refuse  them.  This  is  a 
European  custom.*^ 

The  connection  of  exchange  contracts  among  men  with 
those  between  men  and  gods  explains  a  whole  aspect  of  the 
theory  of  sacrifice.  It  is  best  seen  in  those  societies  where 
contractual  and  economic  ritual  is  practised  between  men. 
Where  the  men  are  masked  incarnations,  often  shamanistic, 
being  possessed  by  the  spirit  whose  name  they  bear,  they  act 
as  representatives  of  the  spirits.^"  In  that  case  the  exchanges 
and  contracts  concern  not  only  men  and  things  but  also  the 
sacred  beings  that  are  associated  with  them.^^  This  is  very 
evident  in  Eskimo,  Tlingit,  and  one  of  the  two  kinds  of  Haida 
potlatch. 

There  has  been  a  natural  evolution.  Among  the  first  groups 
of  beings  with  whom  men  must  have  made  contracts  were  the 
spirits  of  the  dead  and  the  gods.  They  in  fact  are  the  real 
owners  of  the  world's  wealth. ^^  With  them  it  was  particularly 
necessary  to  exchange  and  particularly  dangerous  not  to;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  with  them  exchange  was  easiest  and  safest. 


14  THE    GIFT 

Sacrificial  destruction  implies  giving  something  that  is  to  be 
repaid.  All  forms  of  North-West  American  and  North-East 
Asian  potlatch  contain  this  element  of  destruction. ^^  It  is  not 
simply  to  show  power  and  wealth  and  unselfishness  that  a  man 
puts  his  slaves  to  death,  burns  his  precious  oil,  throws  coppers 
into  the  sea,  and  sets  his  house  on  fire.  In  doing  this  he  is  also 
sacrificing  to  the  gods  and  spirits,  who  appear  incarnate  in  the 
men  who  are  at  once  their  namesakes  and  ritual  allies. 

But  another  theme  appears  which  does  not  require  this 
human  support,  and  which  may  be  as  old  as  the  potlatch  itself: 
the  belief  that  one  has  to  buy  from  the  gods  and  that  the  gods 
know  how  to  repay  the  price.  This  is  expressed  typically  by 
the  Toradja  of  the  Celebes.  Kruyt  tells  us  that  the  'owner'  can 
'buy'  from  the  spirits  the  right  to  do  certain  things  with  his  or 
rather  'their'  property.  Before  he  cuts  his  wood  or  digs  his 
garden  or  stakes  out  his  house  he  must  make  a  payment  to  the 
gods.  Thus  although  the  notion  of  purchase  seems  to  be  little 
developed  in  the  personal  economic  life  of  the  Toradja,  never- 
theless, the  idea  of  purchase  from  gods  and  spirits  is  universally 
understood.^* 

With  regard  to  certain  forms  of  exchange  which  we  describe 
later  Malinowski  remarks  on  facts  of  the  same  order  from  the 
Trobriands.  A  malignant  spirit  is  evoked — a  tauvau  whose  body 
has  been  found  in  a  snake  or  a  land  crab — by  means  of  giving 
it  vaygu'a  (a  precious  object  used  in  kula  exchanges,  at  once 
ornament,  charm  and  valuable).  This  gift  has  a  direct  effect  on 
the  spirit  of  the  tauvau.^^  Again  at  the  mila-mila  festival,^®  a 
potlatch  in  honour  of  the  dead,  the  two  kinds  of  vaygxCa — the 
kula  ones  and  those  which  Malinowski  now  describes  for  the 
first  time  as  'permanent'  vaygu'a  ^' — are  exposed  and  offered  up 
to  the  spirits,  who  take  the  shades  of  them  away  to  the  country 
of  the  dead;  ^^  there  the  spirits  rival  each  other  in  wealth  as 
men  do  on  their  return  from  a  solemn  kula.^^ 

Van  Ossenbruggen,  who  is  both  a  theorist  and  a  distin- 
guished observer,  and  who  lives  on  the  spot,  has  noted  another 
point  about  these  institutions.®"  Gifts  to  men  and  to  gods  have/ 
the  further  aim  of  buying  peace.  In  this  way  evil  influences  are 


GIFTS    AND    RETURN     GIFTS  I5 

kept  at  bay,  even  when  not  personified;  for  a  human  curse 
will  allow  these  jealous  spirits  to  enter  and  kill  you  and  permit 
evil  influences  to  act,  and  if  you  commit  a  fault  towards  another 
man  you  become  powerless  against  them.  Van  Ossenbruggen 
interprets  in  this  way  not  only  the  throwing  of  money  over  the 
wedding  procession  in  China,  but  even  bridewealth  itself.  This 
is  an  interesting  suggestion  which  raises  a  series  of  points.®^ 

We  see  how  it  might  be  possible  to  embark  upon  a  theory 
and  history  of  contractual  sacnHce.  Now  this  sacrifice  pre- 
supposes institutions  of  the  type  we  are  describing,  and  con- 
versely it  realizes  them  to  the  full,  for  the  gods  who  give  and 
repay  are  there  to  give  something  great  in  exchange  for 
something  small.  Perhaps  then  it  is  not  the  result  of  pure  chance  ^^ 
that  the  two  solemn  formulas  of  contract,  the  Latin  do  ut  des 
and  the  Sanskrit  dadami  se,  dehi  me  have  come  down  to  us 
through  religious  texts.*^ 

A  further  note:  on  Alms 

Later  in  legal  and  religious  evolution  man  appears  once 
more  as  representative  of  the  gods  and  the  dead,  if  indeed  he 
had  ever  ceased  to  be  so.  For  instance  among  the  Hausa  there 
is  often  a  fever  epidemic  when  the  guinea-corn  is  ripe,  and  the 
only  way  to  prevent  it  is  to  give  presents  of  wheat  to  the  poor.*^ 
Again,  among  the  Hausa  of  Tripolitania,  at  the  time  of  the 
great  prayer  {Baban  Salld),  the  children  go  round  the  huts 
saying:  'Shall  I  enter?'  The  reply  is:  'Oh  prick-eared  hare,  for 
a  bone  one  gets  service'  (the  poor  man  is  happy  to  work  for  the 
rich).  These  gifts  to  children  and  poor  people  are  pleasing  to 
the  dead.**  These  customs  may  be  Islamic  in  origin,**  or 
Islamic,  Negro,  European  and  Berber  at  the  same  time. 

Here  at  any  rate  is  the  beginning  of  a  theory  of  alms.  Alms  \ 
are  the  result  on  the  one  hand  of  a  moral  idea  about  gifts  and 
wealth  **  and  on  the  other  of  an  idea  about  sacrifice.  Generos- 
ity is  necessary  because  otherwise  Nemesis  will  take  vengeance 
upon  the  excessive  wealth  and  happiness  of  the  rich  by  giving 
to  the  poor  and  the  gods.  It  is  the  old  gift  morality  raised  to 
the  position  of  a  principle  of  justice;   the  gods  and  spirits 


l6  THE    GIFT 

consent  that  the  portion  reserved  for  them  and  destroyed  in 
useless  sacrifice  should  go  to  the  poor  and  the  children.  Origin- 
ally the  Arabic  sadaka  meant,  like  the  Hebrew  zedaqa,  exclusively 
justice,  and  it  later  came  to  mean  alms.  We  can  say  that  the 
Mishnic  era,  the  time  of  the  victory  of  the  Paupers  at  Jerusalem, 
begot  the  doctrine  of  charity  and  alms  which  later  went  round 
the  world  with  Christianity  and  Islam.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
the  word  zedaqa  changed  its  meaning,  since  it  does  not  mean 
alms  in  The  Bible ^'' 

The  value  of  the  documents  and  commentaries  we  have 
quoted  in  this  chapter  is  not  merely  local.  Comparison  takes  us 
farther  afield.  For  we  can  say  that  the  basic  elements  of  the 
potlatch  are  found  in  Polynesia  even  if  the  complete  institution 
is  not  found  there;  ^®  in  any  event  gift-exchange  is  the  rule. 
But  to  emphasize  this  theme  would  simply  be  a  show  of 
erudition  if  it  did  not  extend  beyond  Polynesia.  Let  us  now 
shift  the  subject  and  demonstrate  that  at  least  the  obligation  to 
give  has  a  much  wider  distribution.  Then  we  shall  show  the 
distribution  of  the  other  types  of  obligation  and  demonstrate 
that  our  interpretation  is  valid  for  several  other  groups  of 
societies. 


CHAPTER    II 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  THE  SYSTEM: 
GENEROSITY,   HONOUR  AND    MONEY 

THE  facts  here  presented  are  drawn  from  various  ethno- 
graphic areas,  whose  connecting  links  it  is  not  our 
business  to  follow.  From  the  ethnological  point  of  view 
the  existence  of  common  potlatch  traits  in  the  Pacific,  in  North 
America  and  even  in  North  Asia  may  be  readily  explained. 
But  the  existence  of  a  form  of  potlatch  among  pygmies  is 
strange,  and  no  less  puzzling  are  the  traces  of  an  Indo-European 
potlatch.  We  abstain  from  all  considerations  of  the  method  by 
which  the  institution  has  spread.  It  would  be  naive  and 
dangerous  to  talk  of  borrowing  or  independent  invention. 
Moreover,  the  maps  which  have  been  drawn  for  the  sake  of 
such  arguments  represent  no  more  than  our  present  knowledge 
or  ignorance.  Let  us  then  for  the  moment  content  ourselves 
with  demonstrating  the  nature  and  wide  distribution  of 
a  single  theme.  It  is  for  others  to  reconstruct  its  history  if 
they  can.  n^j^^ 

I.  Rules  of  Generosity  (Andaman  Islands) 

Customs  of  the  kind  we  are  discussing  are  found  with  the 

pygmies   who,    according   to   Pater   Schmidt,^  are   the   most 

primitive  of  men.  In  1906  Radcliffe-Brown  observed  facts  of 

this  order  in  North  Andaman,  and  described  them  admirably 

with  reference  to  inter-group  hospitality,  visits,  festivals  and 

fairs,  which  present  the  opportunity  for  voluntary-obligatory 

exchanges — in  this  case  ofpchre  and  n;iaritime  produce  against 

the  produce  of  the  chasfi^  'Despite  the  importance  of  these 

exchanges,  'as  each  local  group  and  indeed  each  family  was 

able  to  provide  itself  with  everything  that  it  needed  in  the  way 

17 


l8  THE    GIFT 

of  weapons  and  utensils  .  .  ,  the  exchange  of  presents  did  not 
serve  the  same  purpose  as  trade  or  barter  in  more  developed 
communities.  The  purpose  that  it  did  serve  was  a  moral  one. 
The  object  of  the  exchange  was  to  produce  a  friendly  feeling 
between  the  two  persons  concerned,  and  unless  it  did  this  it 
failed  of  its  purpose.  .  .  .''No  one  was  free  to  refuse  a  present 

offered  to  him.  Each  man  and  woman  tried  to  outdo  the  others 

"  "^ .    

in  generosity.  There  was  a  sort  of  amiable  rivalry  as  to 
who'could  give  away  the  greatest  nunlber  of  most  valuable 
presents.'  ^  The  gifts  put  a  seal  to  marriage,  forming  a  friendly 
relationship  between  the  two  sets  of  relatives.  They  give  the 
two  sides  an  identity  which  is  revealed  in  the  taboo  which  from 
then  on  prevents  them  from  visiting  or  addressing  each  other, 
and  in  the  obhgation  upon  them  thereafter  to  make  perpetual 
gift-exchange.*  The  taboo  expresses  both  the  intimacy  and  the 
fear  which  arise  from  this  reciprocal  creditor-debtor  relation- 
ship. This  is  clearly  the  principle  involved  since  the  same  taboo, 
implying  simultaneous  intimacy  and  distance,  exists  between 
young  people  of  both  sexes  who  have  passed  through  the  turtle- 
and  pig-eating  ceremonies  together,^  and  who  are  Hkewise 
obliged  to  exchange  presents  for  the  rest  of  their  lives.  Australia 
also  provides  facts  of  this  kind.*  Radcliffe-Brown  mentions 
rites  of  reunion — embracing  and  weeping — and  shows  how 
the  exchange  of  presents  is  the  equivalent  of  this,'  and 
how  sentiments  and  persons  are  mingled.^  This  confusion  of 
personalities  and  things  is  precisely  the  mark  of  exchange 
contracts^  " 

2.  Principles,  Motives  and  Intensity  of  Gift  Exchange 

(Melanesia) 

We  saw  that  the^s^Ielanesian^^have  preserved  the  potlatch 
better  or  developed  it  more  highly  than  th^  Polynesians^^The 
same  is  true  throughout  the  whole  field  of  gift-exchange.  In 
Melanesia  also  the  notion  of  money  appears  more  clearly,"  and 
while  the  system  is  more  complex  it  is  easier  to  understand. 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE    SYSTEM  ig 

New  Caledonia 

In  Leenhardt's  documents  from  New  Caledonia  can  be  seen 
the  ideas  and  modes  of  expression  to  which  we  have  been 
drawing  attention.  His  prehminary  description  of  the  pilu-pilu 
and  the  system  of  feasts,  gifts  and  prestations  of  all  kinds, 
including  money,^"  clearly  qualifies  them  as  potlatch.  The 
statements  on  custom  in  the  formal  discourses  of  the  heralds 
are  quite  typical.  Thus  at  the  start  of  the  ceremonial  presenta- 
tion of  yams  ^^  the  herald  says:  Tf  there  is  some  old  pilu  which 
we  have  not  seen  in  the  country  of  the  Wi  .  .  .  this  yam  will 
speed  there  just  as  formerly  such  a  yam  came  from  thence  to 
us.'  ^2  Later  in  the  same  speech  the  spirits  of  the  ancestors  are 
said  to  make  the  effects  of  their  action  and  power  felt  upon 
the  food.  'Today  appears  the  result  of  the  act  which  you  have 
accomplished.  All  the  generations  have  appeared  in  its  mouth.' 
There  is  another  no  less  graphic  way  of  expressing  the  link: 
'Our  feasts  are  the  movement  of  the  needle  which  sews  together 
the  parts  of  our  reed  roofs,  making  of  them  a  single  roof,  one 
single  word.'  ^^  The  same  things  (the  same  thread)  return.^* 
Other  authors  have  mentioned  facts  of  this  kind.^^ 

Trobriand  Islands 

At  the  other  side  of  the  Melanesian  world  there  is  a  highly 
evolved  system  like  that  of  New  Caledonia.  The  Trobrianders 
are  among  the  most  advanced  of  these  peoples.  Today  as 
prosperous  pearl  fishers,  and  before  the  arrival  of  Europeans  as 
flourishing  potters  and  stone  workers,  they  have  always  been 
good  business  men  and  sturdy  sailors.  Malinowski  compares 
them  with  the  companions  of  Jason  and  names  them  well  the 
(Argonauts  of  the  Western  Pacific'.  In  his  book  of  this  name, 
which  stands  among  the  best  works  of  descriptive  sociology, 
he  treats  the  subject  with  which  we  are  concerned,  describing 
the  whole  system  of  inter-tribal  and  intra-tribal  commerce 
known  as  the  kula}^  We  stilT  await  a  full  description  of  their 
most  important  institutions,  of  marriage,  funeral  ceremonies, 
initiation,  etc.,  and  hence  our  present  remarks  are  only 
provisional.  But  already  we  have  some  definite  facts  of 
capital  importance.^' 
3 


20  THE    GIFT 

The  kula  is  a  kind  of  grand  potlatch;  it  is  the  vehicle  of  a 

great  inter-tribal  trade  extending  over  all  the  TroSriands,  part 

of  the  d'Entrecasteaux  group  and  part  of  the  Amphletts.  It 

has  indirect  influence  on  all  the  tribes  and  immediate  influence 

on  some:   Dobu  in  the  Amphletts;  Kiriwina,   Sinaketa  and 

Kitava  in  the  Trobriands;  and  Vakuta  on  Woodlark  Island. 

I  Malinowski   does   not   translate   the   word,   which   probably, 

however,  means  'ring' ;  and  in  fact  it  seems  as  if  all  these  tribes, 

i  the  sea  journeys,  the  precious  objects,  the  food  and  feasts,  the 

1  economic,  ritual  and  sexual  services,  the  men  and  the  women, 

jwere  caught  in  a  ring  around  which  they  kept  up  a  regular 

'movement  in  time  and  space. 

Kula  trade  is.  aristocratic.  It  seems  to  be  reserved  for  the 
chiefs,  who  are  cmHs  oftlie  kula  fleet  and  canoes,  traders  for 
their  vassals  (children  and  brothers-in-law)  and,  apparently, 
chiefs  over  a  number  of  vassal  villages.  The  trade  is  carried  out 
in  noble  fashion,  disinterestedly  and  modestly.^'  It  is  dis- 
tinguished from  the '  straightforward  exchange  of  useful  goods 
known  as  the  giThwati7^^T\^s\'&  carried~oiras~well  as  the  kula 
in  the  great~~pnmitive  fairs  which  mark  inter-tribal  kula 
gatherings  and  in  the  little  kula  markets  of  the  interior;  gimwali, 
however,  is  distinguished  by  most  tenacious  bargaining  on  both 
sides,  a  procedure  unworthy  of  the  kula.  It  is  said  of  the  indi- 
vidual who  does  not  behave  in  his  kula  with  proper  magnani- 
mity that  he  is  conducting  it  'as  a  gimwalV.  In  appearance  at 
any  rate,  thtkuJta,  hkejhe  American  podatch,  consists  in  giving 
and  receiyingj^"  the  donors  on  one  qccasioiL  being  the  recipients 
on  the  next.  Even  in  the  largest,  most  solemn  and  highly  com- 
petitive form  of  kula,^^  that  of  the  great  maritime  expeditions 
(uvalaku),  the  rule  is  to  set  out  with  nothing  to  exchange  or  even 
to  give  in  return  for  food  (for  which  of  course  it  is  improper  to 
ask).  On  these  visits  one  is  recipient  only,  and  it  is  when  the, 
visiting  tribes  the  following  year  become  the  hosts  that  gifts  are/ 
repaid  with  interest.  1 

With  the  lesser  kula^^  however,  the  sea  voyage  also  serves 
as  an  opportunity  for  exchange  of  cargoes ;  the  nobles  them- 
selves do  business;  numerous  objects  are  solicitcd,^^  demanded 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE    SYSTEM  21 

and  exchanged,  and  many  relationships  are  established  in 
addition  to  kula  ones;  but  the  kula  remains  the  most  important 
reason  for  the  expeditions  and  the  relationships  set  up. 

The  ceremony  of  transfer  is  done  with  k^lemnity.  The  object 
given  is  disdained  or  suspect;  ft  is  not  accepted  until  it  is  thrown 
on  the  ground.  The  donor  affects  an  exaggerated  modesty. 
Solemnly  bearing  his  gift,  accompanied  by  the  blowing  of  a 
conch-shell,  he  apologizes  for  bringing  only  his  leavings  and 
~tllfows~lhc  object  at  his  partner's  feet.*^  Meanwhile  the  gonclL> 
and  the  (herald  -proclaim  to  one  and  all  the  dignity  of  the 
occasion.  Pains  are  taken  to  show  one's  freedom  and  autonomy 
as  well  as  one'<§  magnaniniity,'^*  yet  all  the  time  one  is  actuated 
by  the  mechanisms  of  obligation  which  are  resident  in  the 
gifts  themselves. 

The  most  important  things  exchanged  are  vaygu'a,  a  kind 
of  currency.  2^  *  These  are  of  two  sorts:  mwali,  the  finely  cut  and 
polished  armshells  worn  on  great  occasions  by  their  owners  or 
relatives,  and  the  soulava,  necklaces  worked  by  the  skilful 
turners  of  Sinaketa  in  handsome  red  spondylus  shell.  These  are 
worn  by  women, 2*  and  only  rarely  by  men,  for  example,  during 
sickness.  Normally  they  are  hoarded  and  kept  for  the  joy  of 
having.  The  manufacture  of  the  one,  and  the  gathering  of  the 
other,  and  the  trading  of  these  objects  of  prestige  and  exchange 
form,  along  with  other  more  common  and  vulgar  pursuits,  the 
source  of  Trobriand  wealth.  ,     ,^^  ;,, , , 

According  to  Malinowski  these  vaygu'a  go  in  a  sort  of 
circular  movement,  the  armshells  passing  regularly  from  west 
to  east,  and  the  necklaces  from  east  to  west.^'  These  two  opposite 
movements  take  place  between  the  d'Entrecasteaux  group,  the 
Amphletts,  and  the  isolated  islands  of  Woodlark,  Marshall 
Bennett  and  Tubetube,  and  finally  the  extreme  south-east 
coast  of  New  Guinea,  where  the  unpolished  armshells  come 
from.  There  this  trade  meets  the  great  expeditions  of  the  same 
nature  from  South  Massim  described  by  Seligman.'^^ 

*  See  page  93  for  the  important  note  on  the  principle  adopted  in 
discussing  the  idea  of  money. 


22  THE    GIFT 

In  theory  these  valuables  never  stop  circulating.  It  is  wrong 
to  keep  them  too  long  or  to  be  'slow'  and  'hard'  with  them; 
they  are  passed  on  only  to  predetermined  partners  in  the  arm- 
shell  or  necklace  direction.^®  They  may  be  kept  from  one  kula 
to  the  next  while  the  community  gloats  over  the  vaygu'a  which 
its  chief  has  obtained.  Although  there  are  occasions,  such  as  the 
preparation  of  funeral  feasts,  when  it  is  permitted  to  receive 
and  to  pay  nothing,^"  these  are  no  more  than  a  prelude  to  the 
feast  at  which  everything  is  repaid. 

The  gift  received  is  in  fact  owned,  but  the  ownership  is  of 

a  particular  kind.  One  might  say  that  it  includes  many  legal 

principles  which  we  moderns  have  isolated  from  one  another. 

!  It  is  at  the  same  time  property  and  a  possession,  a  pledge  and 

a  loan,  an  object  sold  and  an  object  bought,  a  deposit,  a 

jniandate,  a  trust;  for  it  is  given  only  on  condition  that  it  will  be 

jused  on  behalf  of,  or  transmitted  to,  a  third  person,  the  remote 

jpartner  {murimuri) .^^  Such  is  the  economic,  legal  and  moral 

complex,  of  quite  a  typical  kind,  that  Malinowski  discovered 

I  and  described. 

This  institution  also  has  its  mythical,  religious  and  magical 
aspects.  Vaygu'a  are  not  indifferent  things;  they  are  mor^^an 
mere  coins.  All  of  them,  at  least  the  most  valuable  and  most 
coveted, ^^  have  a  name,^^  a  personality,  a  past,  and  even  a 
legend  attached  to  them,  to  such  an  extent  that  people  may 
be  named  after  them.  One  cannot  say  that  they  are  actually 
the  object  of  a  cult,  for  the  Trobrianders  are  t^ositivists  in  their 
way.  But  it  is  impossible  not  to  recognize  their  superior  and 
sacred  .nature.  To  possess  one  is  'exhilarating,  comforting, 
soothing  in  itself'.^*  Their  owners  handle  them  and  gaze  at 
them  for  hours.  Mere  contact  with  them  is  enough  to  make 
them  transmit  their  virtues.^^  You  place  a  vaygu'a  on  the  brow 
or  the  chest  of  a  sick  man,  or  dangle  it  before  his  face.  It  is  his 
supreme  balm. 

But  more  than  that,  the  contract  itself  partakes  of  the  nature 
of  the  vaygu'a.  Not  only  armshells  and  necklaces,  but  also  goods, 
ornaments,  weapons,  and  everything  belonging  to  the  partner, 
are  so  alive  with  feeling,  if  not  with  personality,  that  they  have 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE    SYSTEM  23 

their  part  in  the  contract  as  well.^^  A  fine  formula,  the  'spell 
of  the  conch-shellV  is  used  after  invoking  them  to  charm  or 
attract  towards  the  partner  the  things  he  means  to  ask  and 
receive.^^  '[A  state  of  excitement  ^^  seizes  my  partner.]  *"  A 
state  of  excitement  seizes  his  dog,  his  belt,  his  gwara  [taboo  on 
cocoanuts  and  betelnuts],^  his  bagidou  necklace,  his  bagiriku 
necklace,  his  bagidudu  necklace.  .  .  .'  ^^ 

Another  more  mythical  spell  expresses  the  same  idea.  The 
kula  partner  is  an  animal,  a  crocodile  which  he  invokes  to  bring 
him  necklaces. ^^ 

'Crocodile,  fall  down,  take  thy  man,  push  him  down 
under  the  gebobbo  [part  of  the  canoe  where  the  cargo  is 
stowed] 

'Crocodile,    bring    me    the    necklace,    bring    me    the 
bagidou,  the  bagiriku.  .  .  .' 
A  previous  spell  in  the  same  ritual  invokes  a  bird  of  prey.** 

The  last  spell  of  the  partners  in  Dobu  or  Kitava,  by  the 
people  of  Kiriwina,  contains  a  couplet  of  which  two  interpre- 
tations are  given. *^  The  ritual  is  very  long  and  is  repeated  many 
times;  its  purpose  is  to  enumerate  everything  forbidden  in  the 
kula,  everything  to  do  with  hatred  and  war  which  must  be 
conjured  away  so  that  trade  can  take  place  between  friends. 
'Thy  fury,  the  dog  sniffs. 
Thy  warpaint,  the  dog  sniffs.  .  .  .' 
Other  versions  say : 

'Thy  fury,  the  dog  is  docile.  .  .  .' 
or: 

'Thy  fury  ebbs,  it  ebbs  away,  the  dog  plays  about, 
Thy  anger  ebbs.  .  .  .' 
This  means:  'Thy  fury  becomes  like  the  dog  that  plays  about.' 
The  point  is  the  metaphor  of  the  dog  that  rises  and  Ucks  its 
master's  hand.  The  Dobuan  and  his  wife  should  then  act  in  this 
way.  The  second  interpretation — according  to  Malinowski 
somewhat  sophisticated  and  academic,  but  indigenous  all  the 
same — gives  a  commentary  which  is  more  in  keeping  with  what 
we  know  already:  'The  dogs  play  nose  to  nose.  When  you 
mention  the  word  dog,  the  precious  objects  also  come  to  play. 


24  THE    GIFT 

We  have  given  armshells,  and  necklaces  will  come,  and  they 
will  meet,  like  dogs  which  come  to  sniff.'  The  expression  and 
metaphor  are  neat.  All  the  sentiments  are  seen  at  once:  the  I 
possible   hatred   of  the  partners,  the   vaygu'a  being  charmed  j 
from  their  hiding-places;  men  and  precious  objects  gathering/ 
together  like  dogs  that  play  and  run  about  at  the  sound  of  a 
man's  voice.  ~  ~ 

Another  symbolic  expression  is  that  of  the  marriage  of 
armshells,  female  symbols,  with  necklaces,  male  symbols, 
attracted  towards  each  other  like  male  and  female.**  These 
various  metaphors  mean  exactly  what  Maori  customary  beliefs 
denote  in  other  terms.  Once  again  it  is  the  confusion  of  objects,  [ 
values,  contracts  and  men  which  finds  expression.*' 

Unfortunately  we  know  very  little  about  the  sanction 
behind  these  transactions.  Either  it  was  badly  formulated  by 
the  people  of  Kiriwina,  Malinowski's  informants,  or  else  it  is 
quite  clear  to  the  Trobrianders  and  only  needs  further  research. 
We  have  only  a  few  details.  The  first  gift  of  a  vaygvUa  has  the 
name  of  i/a^flj,.ppening^gift.*^  It  definitely  binds  the  recipient  to 
make  a J"eturn  gift,  the^o/f/^,  well  translated  by  Malinowski  as 
the  ' clinch iog,  gift J-. *  °  Another  name  for  this  \s  kudu,  the  tooth 
which  bites,  severs  and  liberates. *°  It  is  obligatory;  it  is  expected 
and  must  be  equivalent  to  the  first  gift;  it  may  be  taken  by 
force  or  surprise. ^^  One  can  avenge  non-payment  by  magic  ^^ 
or  a  show  of  resentment  if  the  yotile  does  not  come  up  to 
expectations.  If  one  is  unable  to  repay,  one  may,  if  necessary, 
offer  a  basi^  a  tooth  which  does  not  bite  right  through  but  only 
piercesTheTkin  and  leaves  the  transaction  unfinished.  It  is  a 
temporary  affair,  the  interest  on  an  overdue  payment,  and 
although  it  appeases  the  creditor  it  does  not  absolve  the 
debtor.^^  These  details  are  interesting  and  the  expressions  are 
clear,  but  the  sanction  is  not  at  all  evident.  Is  it  only  mystical 
and  moral  ?  ^*  Is  the  man  who  is  'hard'  in  the  kula  only  scorned 
and  bewitched  ?  Does  not  the  unfaithful  partner  lose  something 
else — his  rank  or  at  least  his  position  among  chiefs?  This  is 
something  we  are  not  told. 

From  another  angle  the  institution  is  typical.  Except  in  old 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE    SYSTEM  25 

Germanic  custom  we  have  found  no  system  of  gift  exchange  i 
more  clear  or  complete  and  also  better  understood  both  by 
participants  and  observer  than  that  described  by  Malinowski  1 
for  the  Trobrianders.^^ 

The  kula  in  its  essential  form  is  itself  only  the  most  solemn 
part  of  a  vast  system  of  prestations  and  counter-prestations 
which  seem  to  embrace  the  whole  social  life  of  the  Trobrianders. 
The  kula  (particularly  the  inter-island  form)  appears  to  be 
merely  the  crowning  episode  of  this  life.  Although  it  forms  one 
of  the  great  interests  of  all  Trobrianders,  and  is  one  of  the  main 
reasons  for  the  great  expeditions,  it  is  only  chiefs,  and  maritime 
chiefs  at  that,  who  take  part  in  it..  The  kula  is  the  gathering 
point  of  many  other  institutions. 

The  exchange  of  vaygu^a  is  set  amidst  a  series  of  different 
kinds  of  exchange,  ranging  from  barter  to  wage-payment,  from 
solicitation  to  courtesy,  from  hospitality  to  reticence  and  shame. 
In  the  first  place,  except  for  the  uvalaku,  the  great  expeditions 
of  a  purely  ceremonial  and  competitive  nature,  all  kula  trans- 
actions are  an  opportunity  for  ordinary  exchange,  gimwali, 
which  does  not  necessarily  take  place  between  established 
partners. ^^  Alongside  the  established  partnerships  there  is  an 
open  market  between  persons  of  allied  tribes.  And  then  between 
kula  partners  there  pass  supplementary  gifts  in  an  unbroken 
chain.  The  kula  demands  them.  The  association  or  partnership 
it  sets  up  and  through  which  it  functions  starts  with  a  prelimi- 
nary gift,  the  vaga,  which  is  strenuously  sought  after  by  means 
of  solicitory  gifts.  To  obtain  this  vaga  a  man  may  flatter  his 
future  partner,  who  is  still  independent,  and  to  whom  he  is 
making  a  preliminary  series  of  presents.^'  Although  one  is 
certain  that  the  yotile,  the  cHnching  gift,  will  be  returned,  one 
can  never  say  whether  the  vaga  will  be  given  in  the  first  place 
or  whether  even  the  ^olicitory.  gifts  will  be  accepted.  This 
manner  of  soliciting  and  receiving  is  the  rule.  Gifts  thus  mad^ 
have  a  special  name,  in  this  case  pari.^^  They  are  laid  out 
before  being  presented.  Others  have  names  signifying  the  noble 
and  magical  nature  of  the  objects  offered.^®  To  receive  one  of 
these  gifts  means  that  one  is  desirous  of  entering  into  and 


^ 


26  THE    GIFT 

remaining  in  partnership.  Some  gifts  of  this  kind  have  titles 
which  express  the  legal  implications  of  their  acceptance,*"  in 
which  case  the  affair  is  considered  to  be  settled.  The  gift  is 
normally  an  object  of  some  value,  like  a  large  polished  stone 
axe  or  whalebone  knife.  To  receive  it  is  actually  to  commit 
oneself  to  return  the  vaga,  the  first  desirable  gift.  But  still  one 
is  only  Balf  a  partner.  It.is_the  solemn  handing  over  of  the  vaga 
which  finally  fixes ^he  partnership.  The  importance  of  these 
gifts  arises  from  the  extraordinary  competition  which  exists 
among  members  of  an  expedition.  They  seek  out  the  best 
possible  partner  in  the  other  tribe.  For  the  cause  is  a  great  one; 
the  association  made  establishes  a  kind  of  clan  link  between 
partners.*^  To  get  your  man  you  have  to  seduce  him  and  dazzle 
him.^^  While  paying  proper  regard  to  rank,^^  you  must  get  in 
before  the  others  and  make  exchanges  of  the  most  valuable 
[things — naturally  the  property  of  the  richest  man.  The  under-/ 
I  lying  motives  are  competition,  rivalry,  show,  and  a  desire  fori 
!  greatness  and  wealth.®* 

These  are  the  arrival  gifts;  there  are  other  analogous  gifts 
of  departure,  called  talo'i  on  Sinaketa,®^  and  of  leave-taking; 
they  are  always  superior  to  the  gifts  of  arrival.  Here  again  the 
cycle  of  prestations  and  counter-prestations  with  interest  is 
accomplished  alongside  the  kula. 

Naturally  at  the  time  of  these  transactions  there  are 
prestations  of  hospitality,  of  food,  and,  on  Sinaketa,  of  women. 
Finally  there  are  continual  supplementary  gifts,  always 
regularly  repaid.  It  even  seems  that  these  kortumna  represent  a 
primitive  form  of  the  kula  since  they  consist  of  the  exchange  of 
stone  axes  and  boars'  teeth.®® 

In  our  view  the  whole  inter-tribal  kula  is  an  exaggerated 
case,  the  most  dignified  and  dramatic  example,  of  a  general 
system.  It  takes  the  whole  tribe  out  of  the  narrow  circle  of  its 
own  frontiers.  The  same  holds  also  for  the  clans  and  villages 
within  the  tribes,  which  are  bound  by  links  of  the  same  sort. 
In  this  case  it  is  only  the  local  and  domestic  group  and  their 
chiefs  which  go  out  to  pay  visits,  do  business,  and  intermarry. 
Perhaps  it  is  not  proper  to  call  this  kula.  Malinowski,  however, 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE    SYSTEM  27 

rightly  speaks,  in  contrast  to  the  maritime  kula,  of  the  kula  of 
the  interior  and  oi  kula  communities  which  provide  their  chiefs 
with  articles  for  exchange.  It  is  no  exaggeration  to  speak  in 
these  cases  of  the  real  potlatch.  For  instance,  the  visits  of  the 
Kiriwina  people  to  Kitava  for  mortuary  ceremonies  {s'oi)  *' 
involve  more  than  the  exchange  oi  vaygu'a;  there  is  a  feigned 
attack  [youlawada) ,^^  a  distribution  of  food,  and  a  display  of 
pigs  and  yams. 

The  vaygu'd  are  not  always  acquired,®^  manufactured,'" 
and  exchanged  by  the  chiefs  in  person.  Most  of  them  come  to 
the  chiefs  as  gifts  from  their  vassal  relatives  of  inferior  rank, 
particularly  brothers-in-law,  or  from  sons  with  their  own  fiefs^ 
elsewhere.'^  And  then  on  the  return  of  the  expedition  the 
vaygu'd  are  solemnly  handed  over  to  the  village  chiefs,  the  clan 
chiefs  or  even  to  commoners  of  the  clans  concerned :  in  short, 
to  whomsoever  has  taken  part,  however  indirectly,  in  the 
expedition. '2 

Lastly,  alongside  the  internal  kula,  the  system  of  gift- 
exchange  pervades  the  whole  economic  life  of  the  Trobriands. 
I  Social  life  is  a  constant  give-and-take;  "  gifts  are  rendered, 
received  and  repaid  both  obligatorily  and  in  one's  own  interest, 
I  In  magnanimity,  for  repayment  of  services,  or  as  challenges  or 
pledges.  We  here  set  down  a  few  of  the  most  important  forms 
they  take. 

A  relationship  analogous  to  the  kula  is  that  of  the  wasi.  '^ 
This  sets  up  regular  and  obligatory  exchanges  between  partners, 
between  agricultural  tribes  on  the  one  hand  and  maritime 
trihes^njthe  other.  The  agricultural  partner  places  produce  in 
front  of  the  house  of  his  fisherman  associate.  The  latter,  after  a 
great  fishing  expedition,  makes  return  with  interest,  giving  his 
partner  in  the  agricultural  village  the  product  of  his  catch. '^ 
Here  is  the  same  principle  of  division  of  labour  as  we  noticed 
in  New  Zealand. 

Another  remarkable  form  of  exchange  takes  the  form  of 
display. !!  This  is  sagali,  a  great  and  frequent  distribution  of 
food,  made  at  harvests,  during  the  construction  of  the  chief's 
house,  the  building  of  canoes  and  funeral  ceremonies."  The 

.;,.,  '^-     '     -- 


28  THE    GIFT 

distribution  is  made  to  groups  that  have  given  their  services 
to  the  chief  or  to  his  clan  by  means  of  their  crops,  or  house- 
beams,  or  the  transport  of  heavy  tree-trunks  for  canoe-building, 
or  else  by  services  rendered  at  a  funeral  by  the  dead  man's 
clan,  and  so  on.'^  These  distributions  are  in  every  way  similar 
to  the  Kwakiutl  potlatch,  even  to  the  elements  of  combat  and 
rivalry.  Clans  and  phratries  and  allied  families  confront  one 
another  and  the  transactions  are  group  affairs,  at  least  so  long 
as  the  chief  restrains  himself. 

These  group  rights  and  collective  economic  factors  are 
already  some  way  distant  from  the  kula,  as  are  all  individual 
exchange  relationships.  Some  of  the  latter  may  be  of  the  order 
of  simple  barter.  However,  since  this  simple  barter  takes  place 
only  between  relatives,  close  allies  or  kula  or  wasi  partners,  it 
hardly  seems  that  exchange  even  here  is  really  free.  Moreover, 
what  one  receives,  no  matter  by  what  means,  one  may  not 
keep  for  oneself  unless  it  is  quite  impossible  to  do  without  it. 
Ordinarily  it  is  passed  to  someone  else,  a  brother-in-law 
perhaps.'*  It  may  happen  that  the  very  things  which  one  has 
received  and  given  away  will  be  returned  on  the  same  day. 

Returns  of  prestations  of  all  kinds,  of  goods  or  services,  fall 
into  the  same  categories.  Here  are  some  presented  in  no  special 
order. 

The  pokala  *"  and  kaributu,^^  solicitory  gifts,  which  we  saw 
in  the  kula,  are  species  of  a  much  wider  genus  which  corresponds 
fairly  closely  to  what  we  know  as  wages.  They  are  offered  to 
gods  and  spirits.  Another  generic  name  for  the  same  is  vakapula 
or  mapula ;  ^^  these  are  tokens  of  recognition  and  welcome  and 
they  too  must  be  repaid.  In  this  regard  Malinowski  makes  what 
we  believe  to  be  an  important  discovery  which  explains  econo- 
mic and  legal  relationships  between  the  sexes  in  marriage;  ^^ 
services  of  all  kinds  given  to  the  woman  by  her  husband  are  con- 
sidered as  a  gift-payment  for  the  service  the  woman  renders  O  ^ 
when  she  lends  him  what  the  Koran  calls  'the  field'.    Cy-v^^A.  s^y^^KX 

The  somewhat  immature  legal  language  of  the  Trobrianders 
has  multiplied  the  names  distinguishing  all  kinds  of  prestations 
and  counter-prestations  according  to  the  name  of  the  prestation 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE    SYSTEM  29 

repaid,^*  the  thing  given, ^^  the  circumstances,®^  and  so  on. 
Certain  names  cover  all  these  considerations:  for  example,  the 
gift  to  a  magician  or  for  the  acquisition  of  a  title  is  known  as 
laga.^''  It  is  hard  to  say  just  how  far  the  vocabulary  has  been 
complicated  by  a  strange  incapacity  for  abstraction,  and  by 
odd  embellishments  in  the  nomenclature. 


Other  Melanesian  Societies 

It  is  unnecessary  to  multiply  the  comparisons  from  many 
other  Melanesian  peoples.  However,  some  details  may  be  taken 
from  here  and  there  to  strengthen  the  case  and  show  that  the 
Trobrianders  and  New  Caledonians  are  not  abnormal  in 
having  evolved  a  principle  which  is  strange  to  other  related 
peoples. 

In  the  extreme  south  of  Melanesia,  in  fjFiji,  where  we  have 
already  identified  the  potlatch,  there  are  other  noteworthy 
institutions  belonging  to  the  gift  system.  There  is  a  season,  the 
kerekere,  when  it  is  forbidden  to  refuse  a  man  anything.  ^^  Gifts 
are  exchanged  between  families  at  marriages,  etc.®^  Moreover 
Fijian  money,  cachalot  teeth,  is  the  same  as  that  of  the  Tro- 
brianders. It  is  known  as  tambua.  This  is  supplemented  by  stones 
('mothers'  of  the  teeth),  and  ornaments,  mascots,  talismans  and 
lucky  charms  of  the  tribe.  The  sentiments  of  the  Fijians  in 
regard  to  the  tambua  are  the  same  as  those  just  described:  'They 
are  regarded  by  their  owners  very  much  as  a  girl  regards  her 
dolls.  They  like  to  take  them  out  and  admire  and  talk  about 
their  beauty;  they  have  a  "mother,"  who  is  continually  being 
oiled  and  polished.'  Their  presentation  is  a  request,  and  their 
acceptance  a  pledge.*" 

The  Melanesians  of  New  Guinea  and  the  Papuans  influ- 
enced by  them  call  their  money  tautau;  ^^  it  is  of  the  same  kind 
and  the  object  of  the  same  beliefs,  as  that  of  the  Trobriands.*^ 
We  should  compare  this  name  with  tahutahu  which  means  a 
loan  of  pigs  (Motu  and  Koita).*^  Now  this  word  is  famihar  to 
us  as  the  Polynesian  term,  the  root  of  the  word  taonga  of  Samoa 
and  New  Zealand — jewels  and  property  incorporated  in  the 


30  THE    GIFT 

family.^*  The  words  themselves  are  Polynesian  like  the 
objects.  ^* 

We  know  that  the  Melanesians  and  Papuans  of  New  Guinea 
have  the  potlatch.^^ 

The  fine  documentation  by  Thurnwald  on  the  tribes  of 
Buin  ^'  and  the  Banaro  ^^  have  already  furnished  us  with 
points  of  comparison.  The  sacred  character  of  the  things 
exchanged  is  evident,  in  particular  in  the  case  of  money  and 
the  way  it  is  given  in  return  for  wives,  love,  songs  and  services; 
as  in  the  Trobriands  it  is  a  sort  of  pledge.  Thurnwald  has 
analysed  too  one  of  the  facts  which  best  illustrates  this  system 
of  reciprocal  gifts  and  the  nature  of  the  misnamed  'marriage 
by  purchase'. ^^  In  reality,  this  includes  prestations  from  all 
sides,  including  the  bride's  family,  and  a  wife  is  sent  back  if  her 
relatives  have  not  offered  sufficient  gifts  in  return. 

In  short  this  whole  island  world,  and  probably  also  the 
parts  of  South-East  Asia  related  to  it,  reveal  similar  institutions. 
Thus  the  view  which  we  must  adopt  regarding  these  Melan- 
esian  peoples,  who  are  even  wealthier  and  more  commercially 
inclined  than  the  Polynesians,  is  very  different  from  the  view 
which  is  normally  taken.  They  have  an  extra-domestic  economy 
and  a  highly  developed  exchange  system,  and  are  busier 
commercially  than  French  peasants  and  fishermen  have  been 
for  the  past  hundred  years.  They  have  an  extensive  economic 
life  and  a  considerable  trade  that  cuts  across  geographical 
and  linguistic  boundaries.  They  replace  our  system  of  sale  and 
purchase  with  one  of  gifts  and  return  gifts. 

In  this  type  of  economy,  and  in  the  Germanic  as  we  shall 
see,  there  is  an  incapacity  to  abstract  and  analyse  concepts. 
But  this  is  unnecessary.  In  these  societies  groups  cannot  analyse 
themselves  or  their  actions,  and  influential  individuals,  however 
comprehending  they  may  be,  do  not  reahze  that  they  have  to 
oppose  each  other.  The  chief  is  confounded  with  his  clan  and 
his  clan  with  him,  and  individuals  feel  themselves  to  act  only 
in  one  way.  Holmes  makes  the  acute  observation  that  the 
Toaripi  and  Namau  languages,  the  one  Papuan  and  the  other 
Melanesian,  which  he  knew  at  the  mouth  of  the  Finke,  have 


/ 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE    SYSTEM  3I 

'only  a  single  word  to  cover  buy  and  sell,  borrow  and  lend'. 
Antithetical  operations  are  expressed  by  the  same  word. 
'Strictly  speaking,  the  natives  did  not  borrow  and  lend  in  the 
manner  that  we  do,  but  something  was  always  in  the  form  of 
a  honorarium  for  the  loan  when  it  was  returned.'  ^°°  These 
men  have  neither  the  notion  of  selling  nor  the  notion  of  lending, 
and  yet  carry  out  the  legal  and  economic  activities  corre- 
sponding to  these  words. 

Nor  is  the  notion  of  barter  any  more  natural  to  the  Melan- 
esians  than  it  is  to  the  Polynesians.  Kruyt,  one  of  the  better 
ethnographers,  while  using  the  word  'sale',  describes  exactly 
this  state  of  mind  among  the  inhabitants  of  Central  Celebes.^"^ 
And  yet  these  Toradja  have  long  been  in  contact  with  the 
Malays  who  are  well  known  for  their  trading. 

Thus  we  see  that  a  part  of  mankind,  wealthy,  hard-working 
and  creating  large  surpluses,  exchanges  vast  amounts  in  ways 
and  for  reasons  other  thanjjiose  with  which  we  are  familiar 
from  our  own  societies. 


3.  Honour  and  Credit  (North- West  America) 

From  these  observations  on  Melanesian  and  Polynesian 
peoples  our  picture  of  gift  economy  is  already  beginning  to 
take  shape.  Material  and  moral  life,  as  exemplified  in  gift- 
exchange,  functions  there  in  a  manner  at  once  interested  and 
obligatory.  Furthermore,  the  obligation  is  expressed  in  myth 
and  imagery,  symbolically  and  collectively;  it  takes  the  form 
of  interest  in  the  objects  exchanged;  the  objects  are  never 
completely  separated  from  the  men  who  exchange  them;  the 
communion  and  alliance  thex  establish  are  well-nigh  indis- 
soluble. The  lasting  influence  of  the  objects  exchanged  is  a 
direct  expression  of  the  manner  in  which  sub-groups  within 
segmentary  societies  of  an  archaic  type  are  constantly  embroiled 
with  and  feel  themselves  in  debt  to  each  other. 

Indian  societies  of  the  American  North- West  have  the  same 
institutions,  but  in  a  more  radical  and  accentuated  form. 
Barter  is  unknown  there.  Even  now  after  long  contact  with 


32  THE    GIFT 

Europeans  it  does  not  appear  that  any  of  the  considerable  and 
continual  transfers  of  wealth  take  place  otherwise  than  through 
the  formality  of  the  potlatch.^"^  We  now  describe  this  institution 
as  we  see  it. 

First,  however,  we  give  a  short  account  of  these  societies. 
The  tribes  in  question  inhabit  the  North  West  American  coast 
— the  Tlingit  and  Haida  of  Alaska,^°^  and  the  Tsimshian  and 
Kwakiutl  of  British  Columbia.^°*  They  live  on  the  sea  or  on 
the  rivers  and  depend  more  on  fishing  than  on  hunting  for  their 
livelihood;  but  in  contrast  to  the  Melanesians  and  Polynesians 
they  do  not  practise  agriculture.  Yet  they  are  very  wealthy, 
and  even  at  the  present  day  their  fishing,  hunting  and  trapping 
activities  yield  surpluses  which  are  considerable  even  when 
reckoned  on  the  European  scale.  They  have  the  most  substantial 
houses  of  all  the  American  tribes,  and  a  highly  evolved  cedar 
industry.  Their  canoes  are  good;  and  although  they  seldom 
venture  out  on  to  the  open  sea  they  are  skilful  in  navigating 
around  their  islands  and  in  coastal  waters.  They  have  a  high 
standard  of  material  culture.  In  particular,  even  back  in  the 
eighteenth  century,  they  collected,  smelted,  moulded  and  beat 
local  copper  from  Tsimshian  and  Tlingit  country.  Some  of  the 
copper  in  the  form  of  decorated  shields  they  used  as  a  kind  of 
currency.  Almost  certainly  another  form  of  currency  was  the 
beautifully  embellished  Chilkat  blanket-work  still  used  orna- 
mentally, some  of  it  being  of  considerable  value.^"^  The  peoples 
are  excellent  carvers  and  craftsmen.  Their  pipes,  clubs  and 
sticks  are  the  pride  of  our  ethnological  collections.  Within 
broad  limits  this  civilization  is  remarkably  uniform.  It  is  clear 
that  the  societies  have  been  in  contact  with  each  other  from 
very  early  days,  although  their  languages  suggest  that  they 
belong  to  at  least  three  families  of  peoples.^"® 

Their  winter  life,  even  with  the  southern  tribes,  is  very 
different  frorn_their  summer  life.  The  tribes  have  a  two-fold 
structure:  at  the  end  of  spring  they  disperse  and  go  hunting, 
collect  berries  from  the  hillsides  and  fish  the  rivers  for  salmon; 
while  in  winter  they  concentrate  in  what  are  known  as  towns. 
During  this  period  of  concentration  they  are  in  a  perpetual 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE    SYSTEM  33 

State  of  effervescence.  The  social  life  becomes  intense  in  the 
extreme,  ^ven  more  so  than  in  the  concentrations  of  tribes  that 
manage  to  form  in  the  summer.  This  lite  consists  of  continual 
movement.  There  are  constant  visits  of  whole  tribes  to  others, 
of  clans  to  clans  and  families  to  families.  There  is  feast  upon 
feast,  some  of  long  duration.  On  the  occasion  of  a  marriage,  on 
various  ritual  occasions,  and  on  social  advancement,  there  is 
reckless  consumption  of  everything  which  has  been  amassed 
with  great  industry  from  some  of  the  richest  coasts  of  the  world 
during  the  course  of  summer  and  autumn.  Even  private  life 
passes  in  this  manner;  clansmen  are  invited  when  a  seal  is 
killed  or  a  box  of  roots  or  berries  opened ;  you  invite  everyone 
when  a  whale  runs  aground. 

Social  organization,  too,  is  fairly  constant  throughout  the 
area  thoiigh  itTangeTfrom  theTnatrilineal  phratry  (Tlingit  and 
Haida)  to  the  modified  matriltneah  clan  of-tfae  Kwakiutl ;  but 
the  general  characters  of  the  social  organization  and  particu- 
larly of  totemism  >rc  repeated  in  all  the  tribes.  They  have 
associations  like  those  of  the  Banks  Islanders  of  Melanesia, 
wrongly  called  'secret  societies',  which  are  often  inter-tribal; 
and  men's  and  women's  societies  among  the  Kwakiutl  cut 
across  tribal  organization.  A  part  of  the  gifts  and  counter- 
prestations  which  we  shall  discuss  goes,  as  in  Melanesia,^"'  to 
pay  Q^e's  way  into  the  successive  steps  ^"^  of  the  associations. 
Clah  and  association  ritual  follows  the  marriage  of  chiefs,  the 
sale  of  coppers,  initiations,  shamanistic  seances  and  funeral 
ceremonies,  the  latter  being  more  particularly  pronounced 
among  the  Tlingit  and  Haida.  These  are  all  accomplished  in 
the  course  of  an  indefinitely  prolonged  series  of  potlatches. 
Potlatches  are  given  in  all  directions,  corresponding  to  other 
potlatches  to  which  they  are  the  response.  As  in  Melanesia  the 
process  is  one  of  constant  give-and-take. 

The  potlatch,  so  unique  as  a  phenomenon,  yet  so  typical  of   .^ 
these  tribes,  is  really  nothing  other  thanj^ft-exchange.^""  The 
only  differences  are  in  the  violence,  rivalry  and  antagonism 
aroused,  ia-aJ[a£k_of  jural  concepls^.andJn  a  simpler  structure. 
It  is  less  refined  than  in  Melanesia,  especially  as  regards  the 


34  THE    GIFT 

northern  tribes,  the  Tlingit  and  the  Haida,^^°  but  the  collective 
nature  of  the  contract  is  more  pronounced  than  in  Melanesia 
and  Polynesia.^i^  Despite  appearances,  the  institutions  here  are 
nearer  to  what  we  call  shnple  total  prestations.  Thus  the  legal 
and  economic  concepts  attached  to  themTiave  less  clarity  and 
conscious  precision.  Nevertheless,  in  action  the  principles 
emerge  formally  and  clearly. 

There  are  two  traits  more  in  evidence  here  than  in  the 
Melanesian  potlatch  or  in  the  more  evolved  and  discrete 
institutions  of  Polynesia:  the  themes  of  credit  and  honour.^^^ 

As  we  have  seen,  when  gifts  circulate  in  Melanesia  and 
Polynesia  the  return  is  assured  by  the  virtue  of  the  things  passed 
on,  which  are  their  own  guarantees.  In  any  society  ^  is  in 
the  nature  of  the  gift  in  the  end  to  being  its  own  reward.  By 
definition,  a  common  meal,  a  distribution  o{  kava,  or  a  charm 
worn,  cannot  be  repaid  at  once.  Ti«i€Jias_tOL43ass^  before  a 
counter-prestation  can  be  made.  Thus  the  notion  of  time  is 
logically  impHed  when  one  pays  a  visit,  contracts  a  marriage  or 
an  alliance,  makes  a  treaty,  goes  to  organized  games,  fights  or 
feasts  of  others,  renders  ritual  and  honorific  service  and  'shows 
respect',  to  use  the  Tlingit  term."^  All  these  are  things  ex- 
changed side  by  side  with  other  material  objects,  and  they  are 
the  more  numerous  as  the  society  is  wealthier. 

On  this  point,  legal  and  economic  theory  is  greatly  at  fault. 
Imbued  with  modern  ideas,  current  theory  tends  towards 
a  priori  notions  of  evolution,^^*  and  claims  to  follow  a  so-called 
necessary  logic;  in  fact,  however,  it  remains  based  on  old 
traditions.  Nothing  could  be  more  dangerous  than  what 
Simiand  called  this  'unconscious  sociology'.  For  instance,  Cuq 
could  still  say  in  1910:  'In  primitive  societies  barter  alone  is 
found;  in  those  more  advanced,  direct  sale  is  practised.  Sale 
on  credit  characterizes  a  higher  stage  of  civilization ;  it  appears 
first  in  an  indirect  manner,  a  combination  of  sale  and  loan.'  ^^^ 
In  fact  the  origin  of  credit  is  different.  It  is  to  be  found  in  a 
range  of  customs  neglected  by  lawyers  and  economists  as 
uninteresting:  namely  the  gift,  which  is  a  complex  phenomenon 
especially  in  its  ancient  form  of  total  prestation,  which  we  are 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE    SYSTEM  35 

Studying  here.  Now  a  gjft  necessarily  implies  the  notion  of 
credit.  Economic  evolutiorTTrasTTorgone  from  barter  to  sale 
and  from  cash  to  credit.  Barter  arose  from  the  system  of  gifts 
given  and  received  on  credit,  simplified  by  drawing  together 
the  moments  of  time  which  had  previously  been  distinct. 
Likewise  purchase  and  sale^ — both  direct  sale  and  credit  sale — 
and  the  loan,  derive  from  the  same  source.  There  is  nothing  to 
suggest  that  any  economic  system  which  has  passed  through  the 
phase  we  are  describing  was  ignorant  of  the  idea  of  credit,  of 
which  all  archaic  societies  around  us  are  aware.  This  is  a 
simple  and  realistic  manner  of  dealing  with  the  problem,  which 
Davy  has  already  studied,  of  the  'two  moments  of  time'  which 
the  contract  unites.^^^ 

No  less  important  is  the  role  whichOionour  plays  in  the 
transactions  of  the  Indians.  Nowhere  else  is"~tfie  prestige  of  an 
individual  as  closely  bound  up  with  expenditure,  and  with  the 
duty  of  returning  with  interest  gifts  received  in  such  a  way  that 
the  creditor  becomes  the  debtor.  Consumption  and  destruction 
are  virtually  unlimited.  In  some  potlatch  systems  one  is  con- 
strained to  expend  everything  one  possesses  and  to  keep 
nothing.^^'  The  rich  man  who  shows  his_w^ealth  by  spending 
recklessly  is  the  man  who  wins  prestige.  The  principles  of 
rivalry  and  antagonism  are  basic.  Political  and  individual 
status  in  associations  and  clans,  and  rank  of  every  kind,  are 
^determined  by  the  war  of  property,  as  well  as  by  armed 
hostiTiHes,  by~charice,Tnheritance,  alliance  or  marriage.^^^  But 
everything  is  conceived  as  if  it  were  a  war  of  wealth. ^^^  Marriage 
of  one's  children  and  one's  position  at  gatherings  are  deter- 
mined solely  in  the  course  of  the  potlatch  given  and  returned. 
Position  is  also  lost  as  in  war,  gambling,^'^"  hunting  and 
wrestling.^^^  Sometimes  there  is  no  question  of  receiving  return; 
one  destroys  simply  in  order  to  give  the  appearance  that  one 
has  no  desire  to  receive  anything  back.^^^  Whole  cases  of  candle- 
fish  or  whale  oil,^^^  houses,  and  blankets  by  the  thousand  are 
burnt;  the  most  valuable  coppers  are  broken  and  thrown  into 
the  sea  to  level  and  crush  a  rival.  Progress  up  the  social  ladder 
is  made  in  this  way  not  only  for  oneself  but  also  for  one's 

4 


7 


36  THE    GIFT 

family.  Thus  in  a  system  of  this  kind  much  wealth  is  continually 

being  consumed  and  transferred.  Such  transfers  may  if  desired 

be  called  exchange  or  even  commerce  or  sale;  ^^*  but  it  is  an 

aristacraticjtyp£_af-^^n«iier£&-€4mfaet€riz€d'by"  etiquette  an3 

generosity; moreover^  when  it  is  carried  out  in  a  different 

spirit,    for   immediate   gain,    it   is   viewed   with   the   greatest 
disdain.^25 

We  see,  then,  that  the  notion  of  honour,  strong  in  Polynesia, 
and  present  in  Melanesia,  is  exceptionally  marked  here.  On 
this  point  the  classical  writings  made  a  poor  estimate  of  the 
motives  which  animate  men  and  of  all  that  we  owe  to  societies 
that  preceded  our  own.  Even  as  informed  a  scholar  as  Huvelin 
felt  obliged  to  deduce  the  notion  of  honour — which  is  reputedly 
without  efficacy — from  the  notion  of  magical  efficacy.^'^^  The 
truth  is  more  complex.  The  notion  of  honour  is  no  more  foreign 
to  these  civilizations  than  the  notion  of  magic.^^'^  Polynesian 
mana  itself  symbolizes  not  only  the  magical  power  of  the  person 
but  also  his  honour,  and  one  of  the  best  translations  of  the  word 
is  'authority'  or  'wealth'. ^^^  The  Tlingit  or  Haida  potlatch 
consists  in  considering  mutual  services  as  honours.^^"  Even  in 
really  primitive  societies  like  the  Australian,  the  'point  of 
honour'  is  as  ticklish  as  it  is  in  ours;  and  it  may  be  satisfied  by 
prestations,  offerings  of  food,  by  precedence  or  ritual,  as  well 
as  by  gifts.^^"  Men  could  pledge  their  honour  long  before  they 
could  sign  their  names. 

The  North- West  American  potlatch  has  been  studied  enough 
as  to  the  form  of  the  contract.  But  we  must  find  a  place  for  the 
researches  of  Davy  and  Adam  in  the  wider  framework  of  our 
subject.  For  the  potlatch  is  more  than  a  legal  phenomenon;  it 
is  one  of  those  phenomena  we  propose  to_call  'totalL  It  is 
-j:eligious,  mythological  and  shamanistic  because  the  chiefs 
taking  part  are  incarnations  of  gods  and  ancestors,  whose  names 
they  bear,  whose  dances  they  dance  and  whose  spirits  possess 
them.^^^  It  is  economic;  and  one  has  to  assess  the  value,  im- 
portance, causes  and  effects  of  transactions  which  are  enormous 
even  when  reckoned  by  European  standards.  The  potlatch  is 
also  a  phenomenon  of  social  morphology ;  the  reunion  of  tribes, 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE    SYSTEM  37 

clans,  families  and  nations  produces  great  excitement.  People 
fraternize  but  at  the  same  time  remain  strangers;  community 
of  interest  and  opposition  are  revealed  constantly  in  a  great 
whirl  of  business. ^^^  Finally,  from  the  jural  point  of  view,  we 
have  already  noted  the  contractual  forms  and  what  we  might 
call  the  human  element  of  the  contract,  and  the  legal  status  of 
the  contracting  parties — as  clans  or  families  or  with  reference 
to  rank  or  marital  condition;  and  to  this  we  now  add  that  the 
material  objects  of  the  contracts  have  a  virtue  of  their  own 
which  causes  them  to  be  given  and  compels  the  making  of 
counter-gifts. 

It  would  have  been  useful,  if  space  had  been  available,  to 
distinguish  four  forms  of  American  potlatch:  first,  potlatch 
where  the  phratries  and  chiefs'  families  alone  take  part  (Tlin- 
git) ;  second,  potlatches  in  which  phratries,  clans,  families  and 
chiefs  take  more  or  less  similar  roles  (Haida) ;  third,  potlatch 
with  chiefs  and  their  clans  confronting  each  other  (Tsimshian) ; 
and  fourth,  potlatch  of  chiefs  and  fraternities  (Kwakiutl).  But 
this  would  prolong  our  argument,  and  in  any  case  three  of  the 
four  forms  (with  the  exception  of  the  Tsimshian)  have  already 
been  comparatively  described  by  Davy.^'^  But  as  far  as  our 
study  is  concerned  all  the  forms  are  more  or  less  identical  as 
regards  the  elements  of  the  gift,  the  obligation  to  receive  and 
the  obligation  to  make  a  return, 

4.  The  Three  Obligations:  GivIng,  Receiving, 
Repaying 
The  Obligation  to  Give 

This  is  the  essence  of  potlatch.  A  chief  must  give  a  potlatch 
for  himself,  his  son,  his  son-in-law  or  daughter  ^^*  and  for  the 
dead.^^^  He  can  keep  his  authority  in  his  tribe,  village  and 
family,  and  maintain  his  position  with  the  chiefs  inside  and 
outside  his  nation,^^^  only  if  he  can  prove  that  he  is  favourably 
regarded  by  the  spirits,  that  he  possesses  fortune  ^^'  and  that 
he  is  possessed  by  it.^^^  The  only  way  to  demonstrate  his  fortune 
is  by  expending  it  to  the  humiliation  of  others,  by  putting  them 


38  THE    GIFT 

'in  the  shadow  of  his  name',^^'  Kwakiutl  and  Haida  noblemen 
have  the  same  notion  of  'face'  as  the  Chinese  mandarin  or 
officer.^*"  It  is  said  of  one  of  the  great  mythical  chiefs  who  gave 
no  feast  that  he  had  a  'rotten  face'.^*^  The  expression  is  more 
apt  than  it  is  even  in  China ;  for  to  lose  one's  face  is  to  lose  one's 
spirit,  which  is  truly  the  'face',  the  dancing  mask,  the  right  to 
incarnate  a  spirit  and  wear  an  emblem  or  totem.  It  is  the 
veritable  persona  which  is  at  stake,  and  it  can  be  lost  in  the 
potlatch  ^*2  just  as  it  can  be  lost  in  the  game  of  gift-giving,^*'  in 
war,^**  or  through  some  error  in  ritual.^*^  In  all  these  societies 
one  is  anxious  to  give;  there  is  no  occasion  of  importance  (even 
outside  the  solemn  winter  gatherings)  when  one  is  not  obliged 
to  invite  friends  to  share  the  produce  of  the  chase  or  the  forest 
which  the  gods  or  totems  have  sent;  ^*^  to  redistribute  every- 
thing received  at  a  potlatch;  or  to  recognize  services^*'  from 
chiefs,  vassals  or  relatives  ^*^  by  means  of  gifts.  Failing  these 
obligations — at  least  for  the  nobles — etiquette  is  violated  and 
rank  is  lost.^*' 

The  obligation  to  invite  is  particularly  evident  between 
clans  or  between  tribes.  It  makes  sense  only  if  the  invitation  is 
given  to  people  other  than  members  of  the  family,  clan  or 
phratry.^^"  Everyone  who  can,  will  or  does  attend  the  potlatch 
must  be  invited.^^^  Neglect  has  fateful  results.^^'^  An  important 
Tsimshian  myth  ^^'  shows  the  state  of  mind  in  which  the  central 
theme  of  much  European  folklore  originated:  the  myth  of  the 
bad  fairy  neglected  at  a  baptism  or  marriage.  Here  the  institu- 
tional fabric  in  which  it  is  sewn  appears  clearly,  and  we  realize 
the  kind  of  civilization  in  which  it  functioned.  A  princess  of  one 
of  the  Tsimshian  villages  conceives  in  the  'Country  of  the 
Otters'  and  gives  birth  miraculously  to  'Little  Otter'.  She 
returns  with  her  child  to  the  village  of  her  father,  the  chief 
Little  Otter  catches  halibut  with  which  her  father  feeds  all  the 
tribal  chiefs.  He  introduces  Little  Otter  to  everyone  and 
requests  them  not  to  kill  him  if  they  find  him  fishing  in  his 
animal  form:  'Here  is  my  grandson  who  has  brought  for  you 
this  food  with  which  I  serve  you,  my  guests.'  Thus  the  grand- 
father grows  rich  with  all  manner  of  wealth  brought  to  him  by 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE    SYSTEM  39 

the  chiefs  when  they  come  in  the  winter  hunger  to  eat  whale 
and  seal  and  the  fresh  fish  caught  by  Little  Otter.  But  one  chief 
is  not  invited.  And  one  day  when  the  crew  of  a  canoe  of  the 
neglected  tribe  meets  Little  Otter  at  sea  the  bowman  kills  him 
and  takes  the  seal.  The  grandfather  and  all  the  tribes  search 
high  and  low  for  Little  Otter  until  they  hear  about  the  neglected 
tribe.  The  latter  offers  its  excuses ;  it  has  never  heard  of  Little 
Otter.  The  princess  dies  of  grief;  the  involuntarily  guilty  chief 
brings  the  grandfather  all  sorts  of  gifts  in  expiation.  The  myth 
ends:  'That  is  why  the  people  have  great  feasts  when  a  chief's 
son  is  born  and  gets  a  name;  for  none  may  be  ignorant  of 
him.'  ^^*  The  potlatch — the  distribution  of  goods— is  the^ 
fundamental  act  of  public  recognition  in  all  spheres,  military, 
legal,  economic  and  religious.  The  chief  or  his  son  is  recognized  | 
and  acknowledged  by  the  people.^^^ 

Sometimes  the  ritual  in  the  feasts  of  the  Kwakiutl  and  other 
tribes  in  the  same  group  expresses  this  obligation  to  invite.^^* 
Part  of  the  ceremonial  opens  with  the  'ceremony  of  the  dogs'. 
These  are  represented  by  masked  men  who  come  out  of  one 
house  and  force  their  way  into  another.  They  commemorate 
the  occasion  on  which  the  people  of  the  three  other  tribes  of 
Kwakiutl  proper  neglected  to  invite  the  clan  which  ranked 
highest  among  them,  the  Guetela  who,  having  no  desire  to 
remain  outsiders,  entered  the  dancing  house  and  destroyed 
every  thing.^^' 


The  Obligation  to  Receive 

This  is  no  less  constraining.  One  does  not  have  the  right  to 
refuse  a  gift  or  a  potlatch. ^^^  To  do  so  would  show  fear  qf_ 
having  to_repa^^^^nd  of  being  abased  in  default.  One  would 
"Tose  the  weight'  of  one's  name  by  admitting  defeat  in  ad- 
vance.*^* In  certain  circumstances,  however,  a  refusal  can  be  an 
assertion  of  victory  and  invincibility.^^"  It  appears  at  least  with 
the  Kwakiutl  that  a  recognized  position  in  the  hierarchy,  or  a 
victory  through  previous  potlatches,  allows  one  to  refuse  an 
invitation  or  even  a  gift  without  war  ensuing.  If  this  is  so,  then 


v/     40  THE    GIFT 

a  potlatch  must  be  carried  out  by  the  man  who  refuses  to  accept 
the  invitation.  More  particularly,  he  has  to  contribute  to  the 
'fat  festival'  in  which  a  ritual  of  refusal  may  be  observed.^®^ 
The  chief  who  considers  himself  superior  refuses  the  spoonful  of 
fat  offered  him:  he  fetches  his  copper  and  returns  with  it  to 
'extinguish  the  fire'  (of  the  fat) .  A  series  of  formalities  follow 
which  mark  the  challenge  and  oblige  the  chief  who  has  refused 
to  give  another  potlatch  or  fat  festival.^^^  In  principle,  however, 
gifts  are  always  accepted  and  praised.^^^  You  must  speak  your 
appreciation  of  food  prepared  for  you.^^*  But  you  accept  a 
challenge  at  the  same  time.^^^  You  receive  a  gift  'on  the  back'. 
You  accept  the  food  and  you  do  so  because  you  mean  to  take 
up  the  challenge  and  prove  that  you  are  not  unworthy.^®^ 
When  chiefs  confront  each  other  in  this  manner  they  may  find 
themselves  in  odd  situations  and  probably  they  experience 
them  as  such.  In  like  manner  in  ancient  Gaul  and  Germany, 
as  well  as  nowadays  in  gatherings  of  French  farmers  and 
students,  one  is  pledged  to  swallow  quantities  of  hquid  to  'do 
honour'  in  grotesque  fashion  to  the  host.  The  obligation  stands 
even  although  one  is  only  heir  to  the  man  who  bears  the 
challenge.^®  ^  Failure  to  give  or  receive,^^^  like  failure  to  make 
return  gifts,  means  a  loss  of  dignity.^® ^ 

The  Obligation  to  Repay 

Outside  pure  destruction  the  obligation  to  repay  is  the 
essence  of  potlatch.^ '°  Destruction  is  very  often  sacrificial, 
directed  towards  the  spirits,  and  apparently  does  not  require  a 
return  unconditionally,  especially  when  it  is  the  work  of  a 
superior  clan  chief  or  of  the  chief  of  a  clan  already  recognized 
as  superior.^'''  But  normally  the  potlatch  must  be  returned  with 
interest  like  all  other  gifts.  The  interest  is  generally  between 
30  and  100  per  cent,  a  year.  If  a  subject  receives  a  blanket  from 
his  chief  for  a  service  rendered  he  will  return  two  on  the  occa- 
sion of  a  marriage  in  the  chief's  family  or  on  the  initiation  of 
the  chief's  son.  But  then  the  chief  in  his  turn  redistributes  to 
him  whatever  he  gets  from  the  next  potlatch  at  which  rival  clans 
repay  the  chief's  generosity. 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE    SYSTEM  4I 

The  obligation  of  worthy  return  is  imperative.^ '2  p^ce  is 
lost  for  ever  if  it  is  not  made  or  if  equivalent  value  is  not 
destroyed. ^'^ 

The  sanction  for  the  obligation  to  repay  is  enslavement  for 
debt.  This  is  so  at  least  for  the  Kwakiutl,  Haida  and  Tsimshian. 
It  is  an  institution  comparable  in  nature  and  function  to  the 
Roman  nexum.  The  person  who  cannot  return  a  loan  or  potlatch 
loses  his  rank  and  even  his  status  of  a  free  man.  If  among  the 
Kwakiutl  a  man  of  poor  credit  has  to  borrow  he  is  said  to  'sell 
a  slave'.  We  need  not  stress  the  similarity  of  this  expression  with 
the  Roman  one.^'^  The  Haida  say,  as  if  they  had  invented  the 
Latin  phrase  independently,  that  a  girl's  mother  who  gives  a 
betrothal  payment  to  the  mother  of  a  young  chief  'puts  a 
thread  on  him'. 

Just  as  the  Trobriand  i:zc(^s  aJi.^trei»<..case--©^-gifl:  ex- 
change, so  the  potlatch  in  North- West  America  is  the  monster 
child  of  the  gift  system.  In  societies  of  phratries,  amongst  the 
Tlingit  and  Haida,  we  find  important  traces  of  a  former  total 
prestation  (which  is  characteristic  of  the  Athabascans,  a 
related  group).  Presents  are  exchanged  on  any  pretext  for  any 
service,  and  everything  is  returned  sooner  or  later  for  redis- 
tribution.^'^ The  Tsimshian  have  almost  the  same  rules.^" 
Among  the  Kwakiutl  these  rules,  in  many  cases,  function 
outside  the  potlatch.^"  We  shall  not  press  this  obvious  point; 
old  authors  described  the  potlatch  in  such  a- way  as  to  make 
it  doubtful  whether  it  was  or  was  not  a  distinct  institution."^ 
We  may  recall  that  with  the  Chinook,  one  of  the  least  known 
tribes  but  one  which  would  repay  study,  the  word  'potlatch' 
means  'gift'."^ 


5.  The  Power  in  Objects  of  Exchange 

Our  analysis  can  be  carried  farther  to  show  that  in  the 
things  exchanged  at  a  potlatch  there  is  a  certain  power  which 
forces  them  to  circulate,  to  be  given  away  and  repaid. 

To  begin  with,  the  Kwakiutl  and  Tsimshian,  and  perhaps 
others,  make  the  same  distinction  between  the  various  types  of 


42  THE    GIFT 

property  as  do  the  Romans,  Trobrianders  and  Samoans,  They 
have  the  ordinary  articles  of  consumption  and  distribution  and 
perhaps  also  of  sale  (I  have  found  no  trace  of  barter).  They 
have  also  the  valuable  family  property^ — -talismans,  decorated 
coppers,  skin  blankets  and  embroidered  fabrics.^ ^"  This  class 
of  articles  is  transmitted  with  that  solemnity  with  which  women 
are  given  in  marriage,  privileges  are  endowed  on  sons-in-law, 
and  names  and  status  are  given  to  children  and  daughters' 
husbands,^ ^^  It  is  wrong  to  speak  here  of  alienation,  for  these 
things  are  loaned  rather  than  sold  and  ceded.  Basically  they 
are  sacra  which  the  family  parts  with,  if  at  all,  only  with 
reluctance. 

Closer  observation  reveals  similar  distinctions  among  the 
Haida.  This  tribe  has  in  fact  sacralized,  in  the  manner  of 
Antiquity,  the  notions  of  property  and  wealth.  By  a  religious 
and  mythological  effort  of  a  type  rare  enough  in  the  Americas 
they  have  managed  to  reify  an  abstraction:  the  'Property 
Woman',  of  whom  we  possess  myths  and  a  description.^ ^^  g^g 
is  nothing  less  than  the  mother,  the  founding  goddess  of  the 
dominant  phratry,  the  Eagles.  But  oddly  enough — a  fact  which 
recalls  the  Asiatic  world  and  Antiquity — she  appears  identical 
with  the  'queen',  the  principal  piece  in  the  game  of  tip-cat, 
the  piece  that  wins  everything  and  whose  name  the  Property 
Woman  bears.  This  goddess  is  found  in  Tlingit^^^  country 
and  her  myth,  if  not  her  cult,  among  the  Tsimshian  ^^*  and 
Kwakiutl.185 

Together  these  precious  family  articles  constitute  what  one 
might  call  the  magical  legacy  of  the  people;  they  are  conceived 
as  such  by  their  owner,  by  the  initiate  he  gives  them  to,  by 
the  ancestor  who  endowed  the  clan  with  them,'  and  by  the 
founding  hero  of  the  clan  to  whom  the  spirits  gave  them.^*** 
In  any  case  in  all  these  clans  they  are  spiritual  in  origin  and 
nature.^*'  Further,  they  are  kept  in  a  large  ornate  box  which 
itself  is  endowed  with  a  powerful  personality,  which  speaks,  is 
in  communion  with  the  owner,  contains  his  soul,  and  so  on.^^^ 

Each  of  these  precious  objects  and  tokens  of  wealth  has,  as 
amongst  the  Trobrianders,  its  name,^®^  quality  and  power.^*" 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE    SYSTEM  43 

The  large  abalone  shells,^  ^^  the  shields  covered  with  them,  the 
decorated  blankets  with  faces,  eyes,  and  animal  and  human 
figures  embroidered  and  woven  into  them,  are  all  personal- 
ities.^®^ The  houses  and  decorated  beams  are  themselves 
beings.^ ®^  Everything  speaks — roof,  fire,  carvings  and  paintings; 
for  the  magical  house  is  built  not  only  by  the  chief  and  his 
people  and  those  of  the  opposing  phratry  but  also  by  the  gods 
and  ancestors;  spirits  and  young  initiates  are  welcomed  and 
cast  out  by  the  house  in  person.^" 

Each  of  these  precious  things  has,  moreover,  a  productive 
capacity  within  it.^'^  Each,  as  well  as  being  a  sign  and  surety 
of  life,  is  also  a  sign  and  surety  of  wealth,  a  magico-rehgious 
guarantee  of  rank  and  prosperity.^  ^*  Ceremonial  dishes  and 
spoons  decorated  and  carved  with  the  clan  totem  or  sign  of 
rank,  are  animate  things.^*'  They  are  replicas  of  the  never- 
ending  supply  of  tools,  the  creators  of  food,  which  the  spirits 
gave  to  the  ancestors.  They  are  supposedly  miraculous. 
Objects  are  confounded  with  the  spirits  who  made  them,  and 
eating  utensils  with  food.  Thus  Kwakiutl  dishes  and  Haida 
spoons  are  essential  goods  with  a  strict  circulation  and  are 
carefully  shared  out  between  the  families  and  clans  of  the 
chiefs. 


6.  'Money  of  Renown'  (Renommiergeld)  ^®* 

Decorated  coppers^®*  are  the  most  important  articles  in 
the  potlatch,  and  beliefs  and  a  cult  are  attached  to  them.  With 
all  these  tribes  copper,  a  living  being,  is  the  object  of  cult  and 
myth. 2°°  Copper,  with  i\it  riaida  ana  Kwakmtl  at  least,  is 
identified  with  salmon,,.itself  an  object  of  cult.  ^"^  But  in  addition 
to  this  mythical  element  each  copper  js  by  itself  an  object  of 
indjviHuaJ>-J'ii'1irf's'">2  Each  principal  copper  of  the  families  of 
clan  chiefs  hasitsname  and  individuality;  *°^  it  has  also  its 
own  value, ^°*  in  the  lull  magical  and  economic  sense  of  the 
word,  which  is  regulated  by  the  vicissitudes  of  the  potlatches 
through  which  it  passes  and  even  by  its  partial  or  complete 
destruction.  2"^ 


44  THE    GIFT 

Coppers  have  also  a  virtue  which  attracts  other  ^coppers  to 
them,  as  wealth  attracts  wealth  and  as  dignity  attracts  honours, 
spirit-possession  and  good  alliances. 2°®  In  this  way  they  live 
their  own  lives  and  attract  other  coppers.^"'  One  of  the 
Kwakiutl  coppers  is  called  'Bringer  of  Coppers'  and  the  formula 
describes  how  the  coppers  gather  around  it,  while  the  name 
of  its  owner  is  'Copper-Flowing-Towards-Me'.^"^  With  the 
Haida  and  Tlingit,  coppers  are  a  'fortress'  for  the  princess  who 
owns  them;  elsewhere  a  chief  who  owns  them  is  rendered 
invincible.^"*  They  are  the  'flat  divine  objects'  of  the  house. 2^° 
Often  the  myth  identifies  together  the  spirits  who  gave  the 
coppers,  the  owners  and  the  coppers  themselves. ^^^  It  is  im- 
possible to  discern  what  makes  the  power  of  the  one  out  of  the 
spirit  and  the  wealth  of  the  other;  a  copper  talks  and  grunts, 
demanding  to  be  given  away  or  destroyed ;  ^^^  it  is  covered  with 
blankets  to  keep  it  warm  just  as  a  chief  is  smothered  in  the 
blankets  he  is  to  distribute. ^^^ 

From  another  angle  we  see  the  transmission  of  wealth  and 
good  fortune. 2^*  The  spirits  and  minor  spirits  of  an  initiate 
allow  him  to  own  coppers  arid"  talismans  which  then  enable 
him  to  acquire  other  coppers,  greater  wealth,  higher  rank  and 
more  spirits  (all  of  these  being  equivalents).  If  we  consider  the 
coppers  with  other  forms  of  wealth  which  are  the  object  of 
hoarding  and  potlatch — masks,  talismans  and  so  on — we  find 
they  are  all  confounded  in  their  uses  and  eflTects.^^s  Through 
them  rank  is  obtained;  because ,^a_xaarL_ahtains  wealth  he 
obtains  a  spirit  which  in  turn  possesses  hjuL  enabling  him  to 
overcomFobstacles  heroically.  Then  later  the  hero  is  paid  for 
his  shamanistic  servicevrituaLdances  and~trances.  Everything 
is  tied  together;  things  have  personality,  and^ personalities  are 
in  some  manner  the,  pgijn a nenT possession  of  the  clan.  Titles, 
talismans,  coppers  and  spirits  of  chiefs  are  homonyms  and 
synonyms,  having  the  same  nature  and  function. ^^^  The 
circulation  of  goods  follows  that  of  men,  women  and  children, 
of  festival  ritual,  ceremonies  and  dances,  jokes '^  and  injuries. 
Basically  they  are  the  same.  If  things  are  given  and  returned  it 
is    precisely    because    one    gives    and    returns    'respects'    and 


DISTRIBUTION    OF    THE    SYSTEM  45 

'courtesies'.  But  in  addition,  in  giving  them,  a  man  gives 
himself,  and  he  does  so  because  he  owes  himself — himself  and 
his  possessions — to  others. 

7.  Primary  Conclusion 

From  our  study  of  four  important  groups  of  people  we  find 
the  following:  first,  in  two  or  three  of  the  groups,  we  find  the 
potlatch,  its  leading  motive  and  its  typical  form.  In  all  groups 
we  see  the  archaic  form_of^xchange — ^the_gift_and_the  return 
gift.  Moreover,  in  these  societies  we  note  the  circulation  of 
objects  side  by  side  with  the  circulation  of  persons  and  rights. 
We  might  stop  at  this  point.  The  amount,  distribution  and 
importance  of  our  data  authorize  us  to  conceive  of  a  regime 
embracing  a  large  part  of  humanity  over  a  long  transitional 
phase,  and  persisting  to  this  day  among  peoples  other  than 
those  described.  We  may  then  consider  that  the  spirit  of  gift- 
exchange  is  characteristic  of  societies  which  have  passed  the 
phase  of  'total  prestation'  (between  clan  and  clan,  family  and 
family)  but  have  not  yet  reached  the  stage  of  pure  individual 
contract,  the  money  market,  sale  proper,  fixed  price,  and 
weighed  and  coined  money. 


CHAPTER   III 

SURVIVALS  IN  EARLY  LITERATURE 

THE  preceding  data  come  from  the  domain  of  ethno- 
graphy, and  are  all  drawn  from  societies  bordering  the 
Pacific.  It  is  usual  for  facts  of  this  sort  to  be  treated  as 
curiosities,  or  to  be  used  to  show,  by  comparison,  how  far  our 
own  institutions  approach  them  or  differ  from  them.  Neverthe- 
less, they  have  a  sociological  significance  since  they  lead  us 
towards  the  understanding  of  a  stage  in  social  evolution.  They 
also  have  a  bearing  on  social  history,  for  institutions  of  this  type 
are  a  step  in  the  development  of  our  own  economic  forms,  and 
serve  as  a  historical  explanation  of  features  of  our  own  society. 
We  may  also  find  that  exchange  in  the  societies  which  im- 
mediately preceded  our  own  reveals  important  traces  of  the 
moral  and  economic  principles  we  have  just  analysed  for 
primitive  societies.  We  believe  we  can  demonstrate  that  our 
own  economic  institutions  have  arisen  from  ones  of  the  type 
we  have  just  reviewed.^ 

We  live  in  a  society  where  there  is  a  marked  distinction 
(although  nowadays  the  distinction  is  criticized  by  lawyers 
themselves)  between  real  and  personal  law,  between  things  and 
persons.  This  distinction  is  fundamental;  it  is  the  very  condition 
of  part  of  our  system  of  property,  alienation  and  exchange. 
Yet  it  is  foreign  to  the  customs  we  have  been  studying.  Likewise 
Greek,  Roman  and  Semitic  civilizations  distinguished  clearly 
between  obligatory  prestations  and  pure  gifts.  But  are  these 
distinctions  not  of  relatively  recent  appearance  in  the  codes  of 
the  great  civilizations  ?  Did  not  those  civilizations  pass  through 
a  previous  phase  in  which  their  thought  was  less  cold  and 
calculating  ?  Did  not  they  themselves  at  one  time  practise  these 
customs  of  gift-exchange  in  which  persons  and  things  become 

indistinguishable?  Analysis  of  some  aspects  of  Indo-European 

46 


SURVIVALS    IN    EARLY    LITERATURE  47 

law  shows  clearly  that  usage  has  in  fact  changed  in  this  way. 
We  find  traces  of  the  transformation  in  Rome.  In  India  and 
Germany  we  see  that  institutions  of  this  primitive  type  were 
functioning  at  a  fairly  recent  date. 

I.  Personal  Law  and  Real  Law  (Ancient  Rome) 

A  comparison  of  archaic  custom  with  Roman  custom  prior 
to  the  historic  era  ^  and  Germanic  custom  of  the  period  when 
it  enters  history  sheds  light  upon  the  law  of  persons  and  the 
law  of  things.  In  particular  it  allows  us  to  reconsider  one  of  the 
most  controversial  questions  of  legal  history,  the  theory  of 
the  nexum.^ 

Huvelin  profitably  compares  nexum  with  the  Germanic 
wadium  and  more  generally  with  the  other  supplementary 
sureties  given  during  the  course  of  a  contract;  and  then  com- 
pares the  sureties  with  sympathetic  magic  and  the  power  which 
a  thing,  once  in  contact  with  a  man,  gives  to  his  contracting 
partner.*  This  explains  only  some  of  the  data.  A  magical 
sanction  remains  merely  a  possibility  and  depends  on  the 
nature  and  character  of  the  object  given.  The  supplementary 
surety  and  the  Germanic  wadium  are  not  simply  exchanges  of 
sureties  or  warrants  endowed  with  some  mystical  superiority.' 
The  thing  pledged  is  normally  of  little  value — a  stick,  the 
Roman  stips,^  or  the  Gtnn.a.nic  festuca  notata;  even  the  arrhes 
(earnest)  of  Semitic  origin  is  something  more  than  an  advance 
payment.'  These  are  live  things.  Probably  they  are  to  be 
considered  as  survivals  of  older  obligatory  gifts  or  reciprocal 
dues.  The  contracting  parties  are  bound  by  them.  In  this 
respect  these  supplementary  exchanges  are  fictitious  ex- 
pressions of  the  movement  of  personalities  and  the  objects 
confounded  with  them.  The  nexum,  the  legal  bond,  derives  from 
things  as  well  as  from  men.^ 

The  formahty  with  which  they  were  exchanged  is  proof  of 
their  importance.  In  quiritary  Roman  law,  property  (essential 
property  consisting  of  slaves  and  cattle  and  later  of  real  estate) 
was  never  handed  over  in  an  easy  or  informal  manner.  The 


48  THE    GIFT 

transaction  was  always  a  solemn  affair,  made  before  five 
witnesses  or  friends  and  the  'weigher'.®  It  was  tied  up  with  all 
manner  of  considerations  foreign  to  our  modern  conceptions 
with  their  purely  legal  and  economic  elements.  The  nexum 
established  still  involved  religious  representations  (which 
Huvelin  saw  but  considered  to  be  exclusively  magical). 

Certainly  the  oldest  form  of  contract  in  Roman  law,  the 
nexum  is  already  distinct  from  the  collective  contract  and  the 
old  system  of  binding  gifts.  The  early  history  of  the  Roman 
system  of  obligations  may  never  be  written  with  any  certainty. 
Nevertheless  it  is  possible  to  point  out  how  research  on  this 
matter  might  proceed. 

We  hold  that  there  is  a  connecting  bond  in  things  other 
than  the  magical  and  religious  one — a  bond  created  by  the 
words  and  gestures  of  legal  formalism.  This  bond  is  strongly 
marked  in  certain  very  old  terms  in  Roman  and  Italic  law. 
The  etymology  of  a  number  of  these  words  is  suggestive.  What 
follows  here  is  in  the  nature  of  a  hypothesis. 

Originally,  we  contend,  things  had  a  personality  and  a 
virtue  of  their  own.  Things  are  not  the  inert  objects  which  the 
laws  of  Justinian  and  ourselves  imply.  They  are  a  part  of  the 
family:  the  Koman  familia  comprises  the/ res  as  well  as  the 
rpersonae}^  It  is  defined  in  the  Digest,  and  we  note  that  the  farther 
Naack  we  go  into  Antiquity  the  more  the  familia  denotes  the  res 
of  which  it  consists  even  to  the  family's  food  and  means  of 
livelihood.^^  The  best  etymology  of  the  word  familia  is  that 
which  ahgns  it  with  the  Sanskrit  dhaman,  a  house.^^ 

Things  were  of  two  kinds.  Distinction  was  made  between 
familia  and  pecunia,  between  the  things  of  the  house  (slaves, 
horses,  mules,  donkeys)  and  the  cattle  in  the  fields  far  from  the 
stables.^^  There  was  also  a  distinction  between  res  mancipi  and 
res  nee  mancipi  according  to  the  manner  in  which  they  were  sold.^* 
With  the  former,  which  constituted  objects  of  value,  including 
children  and  real  estate,  ahenation  had  to  follow  the  form  of 
mancipatio,  'taking  into  the  hands'. ^^  There  is  still  discussion 
whether  the  distinction  between  familia  and  pecunia  coincided 
with  that  between  res  mancipi  and  res  nee  mancipi.  It  seems  to  us 


SURVIVALS    IN    EARLY    LITERATURE  49 

that  there  is  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  at  least  originally  they 
did  coincide.  The  things  that  escaped  the  mancipatio  were 
precisely  the  cattle  and  pecunia,  money,  the  idea,  name  and 
form  of  which  derived  from  cattle.  One  might  say  that  the 
Roman  veteres  made  the  same  distinction  as  the  Tsimshian  and 
Kwakiutl  do  between  the  permanent  and  essential  goods  of  the 
house,  and  the  things  that  pass  on — food,  beasts  in  the  distant 
grazing,  and  metals — in  which  the  unemancipated  son  might 
trade. 

Moreover,  the  res  cannot  originally  have  been  the  brute  and 
tangible  thing,  the  simple  and  passive  object  of  transaction  that 
it  has  become.  The  best  etymology  seems  to  be  that  which 
compares  the  word  with  the  Sanskrit  rah,  ratih,  meaning  a  gift 
or  pleasant  thing.^®  The  res  rnustoriginally  have  meant  that 
which  gives  a  person  pleasure.^'  Moreover,  the  thing  was 
always  marked  with  a  family  seal  or  property  mark.  Hence  we 
can  understand  that  with  things  mancipi  the  solemn  act  of 
mancipatio  created  a  legal  bond.  For  even  in  the  hands  of  the 
accipiens  it  still  remained  a  factor  in  the  family  of  the  original 
owner;  it  remained  bound  to  that  family  and  likewise  bound 
to  the  latest  owner  until  he  was  freed  by  the  fulfilment  of  his 
part  of  the  contract,  that  is  to  say  by  the  transmission  of  the 
compensating  article,  price  or  service  which  in  its  turn  was 
binding  on  the  original  owner. 

In  respect  of  two  points  of  Roman  law,  theft  (furtum)  and 
contracts  re,  the  idea  of  the  power  inherent  in  a  thing  was 
always  present.  As  far  as  theft  is  concerned,  the  acts  and 
obligations  to  which  it  gave  rise  were  clearly  due  to  this 
power.^^  It  had  aeterna  auctoritas  which  made  its  presence  felt  if 
it  was  stolen.^®  In  this  respect  the  res  of  Roman  law  was  no 
different  from  Hindu  or  Haida  property. ^^  Contracts  re  con- 
sisted of  four  of  the  most  important  contracts  in  law:  loan, 
deposit,  pledge  and  free  loan.  A  certain  number  of  other 
contracts,  in  particular  gift  and  exchange,  which  we  consider 
with  sale  to  have  been  the  original  kinds  of  contract,  were  also 
taken  to  be  contracts  re.^^  But  in  fact,  even  in  our  own  laws,  it 
is  not  possible  to  forget  the  older  forms.  ^^^  For  a  gift  to  be  made. 


50  THE    GIFT 

there  must  be  presupposed  an  object  or  service  which  creates 
an  obligation.  It  is  clear,  for  instance,  that  the  revocability  of 
a  gift  as  a  result  of  ingratitude,  which  came  late  in  Roman  law  ^' 
but  was  always  present  in  ours,  is  a  normal,  perhaps  even 
natural  legal  institution. 

These  facts,  though,  are  not  of  wide  occurrence  and  we 
want  our  study  to  be  general.  We  believe  that  in  ancient  Rome 
the  act  of  traditio  of  a  res,  and  not  only  the  words  or  writing 
about  it,  was  one  of  the  essential  factors.  Roman  law  itself  never 
made  this  clear.  For  although  it  proclaimed  that  the  solemnity 
of  the  occasion  was  essential — just  as  is  the  case  in  the  archaic 
customs  we  have  described — saying  nunquam  nuda  traditio 
transfert  dominium,^*'  it  maintained  at  the  same  time,  as  late  as 
Diocletian  (298  B.C.) :  Traditionibus  et  usucapionibus  dominia,  non 
pactis  transfer entur.^^  The  res,  prestation  or  article  is  an  essential 
element  in  the  contract.  We  are  ill  placed  to  resolve  these 
much-debated  etymological  problems  of  concepts  in  view  of 
the  poverty  of  the  sources. 

Up  to  this  point  we  feel  sure  of  our  facts.  If  we  push 
farther  and  indicate  to  lawyers  and  philologists  what  might  be 
a  fruitful  Hne  of  research,  it  may  be  possible  to  discern  a  legal 
system  in  force  before  the  time  of  the  Twelve  Tables.  It  is  not 
only  familia  and  res  which  are  open  to  analysis.  We  put  forward 
a  number  of  hypotheses,  each  of  which  taken  alone  carries  little 
weight,  but  which,  when  considered  together,  may  be  found 
to  have  some  significance. 

Most  expressions  of  contract  and  obligation  and  some  of 
the  forms  of  contract  seem  to  be  referable  to  the  system  of 
spiritual  bonds  created  by  the  act  of  traditio. 

The  contracting  party  is  first  reus;  he  is  originally  the  man 
who  has  received  the  res  from  another  and  who  becomes  the 
reus — that  is,  bound  to  him  by  virtue  of  the  thing  alone,  or  by 
its  spirit.^®  Hirn  suggested  an  etymology  which  has  been  con- 
sidered meaningless,  although  its  meaning  is  clear.  As  he  points 
out,  reus  was  originally  a  genitive  ending  in  -os,  and  replaces 
rei-jos,  the  man  who  is  possessed  by  the  thing. 2'  It  is  true  that 
Hirn,  and  Walde  who  follows  him,^^  translate  res  by  'legal 


SURVIVALS    IN    EARLY    LITERATURE  5I 

action',  and  rei-jos  as  'implicated  in  a  legal  action'. ^^  But  this 
is  arbitrary  and  presupposes  that  res  means  legal  action.  On 
the  contrary,  if  our  derivation  is  accepted,  every  res  and  every 
traditio  of  res  being  the  object  of  a  legal  action  in  public,  it 
becomes  clear  that  'implicated  in  a  legal  action'  is  merely  a 
derived  meaning.  Thus  the  meaning  of  'guilty'  for  reus  is  even 
farther  derived.  Thus  we  should  prefer  to  say  that  the  word 
meant  first  the  person  possessed  by  the  thing,  then  the  person 
implicated  in  the  legal  action  arising  out  of  the  traditio  of  the 
thing,  and  finally  the  guilty  and  responsible  person.  From  this 
point  of  view  all  the  theories  of  the  quasi-delict  origin  of  con- 
tract, nexum  and  actio  are  slightly  illuminated.  The  mere  fact  of 
having  the  thing  puts  the  accipiens  in  a  condition  of  quasi- 
culpability  {damnatus,  nexus,  aere  obseratus),  of  spiritual  inferiority, 
moral  inequality  {magister,  minister)  vis-d-vis  the  donor,  the 
tradens.^^ 

We  refer  now  to  a  number  of  very  old  traits  connected  with 
mancipatio,^^  the  purchase  and  sale  which  became  the  emptio 
venditio  of  very  ancient  Roman  law.^^  We  note  first  that  this 
always  implies  traditio. ^^  The  first  holder,  tradens,  shows  his 
property,  detaches  himself  from  it,  hands  it  over  and  thus  buys 
the  accipiens.  True  mancipatio  corresponds  to  this  operation.  The 
person  who  receives  the  thing  takes  it  into  his  hands.  He  does 
not  merely  recognize  that  he  has  received  it,  but  realizes  that 
he  himself  is  'bought'  until  it  is  paid  for.  Normally  only  one 
mancipatio  is  considered,  and  it  is  understood  to  be  simply  the 
act  of  taking  into  possession,  but  in  the  one  operation  many 
others  of  the  same  nature  are  included  concerning  both  things 
and  persons. 

There  is  much  discussion  also  on  the  emptio  venditio.^*'  Does 
it  correspond  to  two  acts  or  one?  We  adduce  a  reason  why 
two  acts  should  be  counted  although  in  a  direct  sale  they  may 
follow  right  on  top  of  each  other.  Just  as  in  primitive  custom 
we  find  the  gift  followed  by  the  return  gift,  so  in  Roman  usage 
there  is  sale  and  then  payment.  In  this  way  there  is  no  difficulty 
in  understanding  the  whole  process,  including  the  stipulation,^^ 

It  is  sufficient  merely  to  note  the  formulae  used — that  of 
5 


52  THE    GIFT 

the  mancipatio  concerning  the  piece  of  bronze,  and  that  of  the 
acceptance  of  the  money  of  the  slave  who  redeems  himself  (this 
money  must  be  '/>wn,  probi,  profani  sui').^^  These  two  forms  are 
identical.  Both  also  are  echoes  of  the  formulae  for  the  older 
emptio  of  cattle  and  slaves  preserved  for  us  in  the  jus  civile.^'' 
The  second  holder  accepts  the  thing  only  when  it  is  free  of  vice; 
and  he  accepts  it  only  because  he  is  in  a  position  to  return 
something,  to  compensate,  to  pay  the  price.  Note  the  expres- 
sions: reddit  pretium,  reddere,  etc.,  where  the  root  dare  still 
appears.^* 

Festus  has  preserved  for  us  the  meaning  of  the  term  emere 
(to  buy),  and  of  the  form  of  civil  law  it  implies.  He  says: 
'Abemito  signijicat  demito  vel  auferto;  emere  enim  antiqui  dicebant  pro 
accipere ;' 2Lnd  also:  'Emere  quod  nunc  est  mercari  antiqui  accipiebant 
pro  sumere."  This  is  the  meaning  of  the  Indo-European  word 
which  is  connected  with  the  Latin  one.  Emere  is  to  take  or 
accept  something  from  a  person.^' 

The  term  emptio  venditio  seems  to  suggest  laws  other  than 
Roman, *°  for  which,  in  the  absence  of  money  and  price,  there 
was  only  barter  and  gift.  Vendere,  originally  venum  dare,  is  a 
composite  word  of  an  archaic  or  even  prehistoric  type.*^  There 
is  no  doubt  that  it  contains  the  element  dare,  which  implies  gift 
and  transmission.  For  the  other  element  we  borrow  an  Indo- 
European  word  implying  not  sale  but  the  price  of  sale,  wvi^, 
Sanskrit  vasnah,  which  Him  compares  with  a  Bulgarian  word 
signifying  dowry,  the  purchase  price  of  a  woman. ^^ 

These  hypotheses  about  very  ancient  Roman  law  are  of 
rather  a  prehistoric  order.  The  law,  morality  and  economy  of 
the  Latins  must  have  had  these  forms,  but  they  were  forgotten 
when  the  institutions  approached  the  historic  era.  For  it  was 
precisely  these  Greeks  and  Romans  who,  possibly  following  the 
Northern  and  Western  Semites,  drew  the  distinction  between 
ritual,  law  and  economic  interest.*^  By  a  venerable  revolu- 
tion they  passed  beyond  that  antiquated  and  dangerous  gift 
economy,  encumbered  by  personal  considerations,  incom- 
patible with  the  development  of  the  market,  trade  and  pro- 
ductivity— which  was  in  a  word  uneconomic. 


SURVIVALS    IN    EARLY    LITERATURE  53 

Our  reconstruction  is  nothing  more  than  a  likely  hypothesis, 
but  its  degree  of  probability  increases  with  the  fact  that  other 
trustworthy  Indo-European  written  laws  were  witness  in 
historic  times  to  a  system  of  the  kind  already  described  among 
Pacific  and  American  societies  which,  although  we  call  them 
'primitive',  are  at  least  'archaic'.  Thus  we  can  generalize  with 
some  degree  of  safety.  The  two  Indo-European  systems  which 
have  best  conserved  these  traces  are  the  Germanic  and  the 
Hindu.  They  also  happen  to  be  those  on  which  we  have  the 
most  complete  texts. 


2.  Theory  of  the  Gift  (Hindu  Classical  Period)  ** 

There  is  a  serious  difficulty  in  the  use  of  Hindu  legal 
documents.  The  codes,  and  the  epics  which  equal  them  in 
authority,  were  written  by  Brahmins,  if  notjbr  themselves  at 
least  to  their  advantage,  at  tfiF  period  of  their  triumph.*^  They 
give  us  only  theoretical  law.  Thus  we  can  discover  data  about 
the  other  castes,  Ksatriya  and  Vaicya,  only  by  making  recon- 
structions from  the  numerous  unconnected  statements  about 
them  in  the  literature.  The  theory  o(  danadharma,  the  'law  of  the(  y^'Q^^ii 
gift',  which  we  shall  discuss,  applies  only  to  Brahmins;  for 
instance,  how  they  solicit  and  receive  then  make  return  wholly 
by  religious  services.  It  shows  also  the  way  in  which  gifts  are 
due  to  them.  Naturally  this  duty  of  giving  to  the  Brahmins  is 
subject  to  numerous  prescriptions.  It  is  probable  that  entirely 
different  relationships  obtained  among  noblemen,  princely 
families  and  the  numerous  castes  and  races  of  the  common 
people.  It  would  be  a  difficult  matter  to  assess  them  on  account 
of  the  nature  of  our  Hindu  data. 

Ancient  India  immediately  after  the  Aryan  invasion  was  in 
two  respects  a  land  of  the  potlatch."*^  This  was  still  found 
among  two  large  groups  which  had  once  been  more  numerous 
and  which  now  formed  the  substratum  of  a  great  part  of  the 
population:  the  Tibeto-Burmans  of  Assam  and  the  tribes  of 
Munda  stock,  the  Austro-Asiatics.  We  may  even  suppose  that 
the  traditions  of  these  tribes  have  persisted  in  a  Brahminic 


54  THE    GIFT 

setting.'*'  For  instance,  traces  may  be  seen  of  an  iristitutioil, 
comparable  with  the  Batak  indjok  and  other  features  of  Malayan 
hospitality,  in  the  rules  which  forbid  eating  with  an  uninvited 
guest.  Institutions  of  the  same  genus  if  not  of  the  same  species 
have  left  their  traces  in  the  oldest  Veda,  and  they  are  nearly  all 
found  again  in  the  Indo-European  world. *^  Thus  there  are 
reasons  for  believing  that  the  Aryans  also  had  them  in  India.** 
The  two  currents  flowed  together  at  a  time  which  can  be  fairly 
accurately  assessed,  contemporary  with  the  later  parts  of  the 
Veda  and  the  colonization  of  the  two  great  river  plains  of  the 
Indus  and  Ganges.  No  doubt  the  two  currents  reinforced  each 
other.  Thus  as  soon  as  we  leave  the  Vedic  period  of  the  litera- 
ture we  find  the  theory  strongly  developed.  The  Mahabharata 
is  the  story  of  a  tremendous  potlatch — there  is  a  game  of  dice 
between  the  Kauravas  and  the  Pandavas,  and  a  military 
festival,  while  Draupadi,  sister  and  polyandrous  wife  of  the 
Pandavas,  chooses  husbands.^"  Repetitions  of  the  same  cycle 
of  legends  are  met  with  in  the  finest  parts  of  the  epics;  for 
instance,  the  tale  of  Nala  and  Damayanyi,  like  the  Mahab- 
harata, recounts  communal  house-building,  a  game  of  dice  and 
so  on.^^  But  the  whole  is  disfigured  by  its  literary  and  theological 
style. 

For  our  present  demonstration  it  is  not  necessary  to  weigh 
up  these  multiple  origins  and  make  a  hypothetical  recon- 
struction of  the  whole  system. ^^  Likewise  the  number  of  castes 
that  were  concerned  and  the  exact  period  at  which  they 
flourished  are  irrelevant  in  a  work  of  comparison.  Later,  for 
reasons  which  need  not  concern  us  here,  this  law  disappeared 
except  among  the  Brahmins;  but  we  can  say  for  sure  that  it 
functioned  between  the  eighth  century  B.C.  and  the  second  or 
third  century  a.d.  That  is  precise  enough  for  our  purpose.  The 
epics  and  laws  of  the  Brahmins  move  in  the  old  atmosphere  in 
which  gifts  are  still  obligatory  and  have  special  virtues  and 
form  a  part  of  human  persons.  We  limit  ourselves  here  to  a 
description  of  these  forms  of  social  life  and  a  study  of  their 
causes. 

The  thing  given  brings  return  in  this  life  and  in  the  other. 


SURVIVALS    IN    EARLY    LITERATURE  55 

It  may  automatically  bring  the  donor  an  equivalent  return — it 
is  not  lost  to  him,  but  reproductive;  or  else  the  donor  finds  the 
thing  itself  again,  but  with  increase. ^^  Food  given  away  means^ 
that  food  will  return  to  the  donor  in  this  world;  it  also  means 
food  for  him  in  the  other  world  and  in  his  series  of  reincarna- 
tions. Water,  wells  and  springs  given  away  are  insurance 
against  thirst;  the  clothes,  the  sunshades,  the  gold,  the  sandals 
for  protection  against  the  burning  earth,  return  to  you  in  this 
life  and  in  the  other.^*  The  land  you  give  away  produces  crops' 
for  another  person  and  enhances  your  own  interests  in  both 
worlds  and  in  future  incarnations.  'As  the  crescent  moon  grows 
from  day  to  day  so  the  gift  of  land  once  made  increases  at  every 
harvest.'  Land  gives  crops,  rents  and  taxes,  minerals  and 
cattle.  A  gift  made  of  it  enriches  both  donor  and  recipient  with 
the  sarne  produceT^^  Such  economic  theology  is  developed 
at  great  length  in  the  roUing  periods  of  the  innumerable 
cantos,  and~heither  the  codes  nor  the  epics  ever  tire  of  the 
subject.^' 

Land,  food,  or  whatever  one  gives  away  are,  moreover,  ' 
<;^|^r^pnified  beings  that  talk  and  take  part  in  the  contract.  They 
state  their  desire  to  be  given  away.  The  land  once  spoke  to  the 
sun  hero  Rama,  son  of  Jamadagni,  and  when  he  heard  its  song 
he  gave  it  over  to  the  rsi  Kacyapa.  The  land  said  to  him,  in  its 
no  doubt  old-fashioned  language: 

'Receive  me  [to  the  recipient] 
Give  me  [to  the  donor] 
Give  me  and  you  shall  receive  me  again' 

and  it  added,  in  a  rather  flat  Brahminic  tongue:  'In  this  world 
and  in  the  other  what  is  given  is  received  again.'  ^'  A  very  old 
code  states  that  Anna,  food  deified,  proclaimed  the  following 
verse : 

'Him  who,  without  giving  me  to  the  gods  or  the 

spirits,  or  to  his  servants  or  guests, 

prepares  and  eats  [me],  and  in 

his  folly  thus  eats  poison,  I  eat  him, 

I  am  his  death. 


56  THE    GIFT 

'But  for  him  who  offers  the  angihotra,  and  then 
eats — in  happiness,  purity  and  faith — 
whatever  remains  after  he  has  fed  those 
whom  it  is  his  pleasure  and  duty  to  feed, 
for  him  I  become  ambrosia  and  he  takes  pleasure  in 
me.'  ^* 

It  is  in  the  nature  of  food  to  be  shared;  to  fail  to  give  others  a 
part  is  to  'kill  its  essence',  to  destroy  it  for  oneself  and  for  others. 
Such  is  the  interpretation  at  once  materialistic  and  idealistic, 
that  Brahminism  gav£LtQ  chadtx_^d  hospitality.^^  Wealth  is 
made  tobe_^ven  away.  Were  there  no  Brahmins  to  receive  it, 
'vain  wouldbe~tKe  wealth  of  the  rich'.  'He  who  eats  without 
knowledge  kills  his  food,  and  his  food  kills  him.'  ^"  Avarice 
interrupts  the  action  of  food  which,  when  properly  treated,  is 
always  productive  of  more. 

In  this  game  of  exchanges,  as  well  as  with  reference  to  theft, 
Brahminism  makes  a  clear  recognition  of  personal  property. 
The  property  of  the  Braiimin  is  the  Brahmin  himself  'The 
Brahmin's  cow  is  poison,  a  venomous  snake',  says  the  Veda  of 
the  magicians.®^  The  old  code  of  Baudhayana  proclaims:  'The 
property  of  the  Brahmin  slays  [the  guilty]  through  the  son  and 
the  grandson;  the  poison  is  not  [poison];  property  of  the 
Brahmin  is  called  [real]  poison.'  ^^  It  contains  its  sanction 
within  itself,  since  it  is  in  fact  that  which  is  terrible  about  the 
Brahmin.  It  is  not  necessary  even  that  the  theft  of  a  Brahmin's 
property  should  be  conscious  and  intentional.  A  section  of  the 
Parvan,^^  the  part  of  the  Mahabharata  which  is  most  relevant, 
tells  how  Nrga,  king  of  the  Yadus,  was  transformed  into  a 
lizard  for  having  given,  through  the  fault  of  his  people,  a  cow 
,to  a  Brahmin  which  was  another  Brahmin's  property.  The  man 
who  received  it  would  not  part  with  it,  even  for  a  hundred 
thousand  others;  it  was  a  part  of  his  house  and  belonged  to 
himself:  'She  is  used  to  my  ways,  she  is  a  good  milker,  placid 
and  attached  to  me.  Her  milk  is  sweet,  and  I  always  keep  some 
in  my  house.  She  feeds  a  little  child  of  mine  who  is  weak  and 
already  weaned.  I  cannot  give  her  away.'  Nor  did  the  Brahmin 


SURVIVALS    IN    EARLY    LITERATURE  57 

from  whom  she  was  taken  accept  another.  She  was  the  property 
of  both  the  Brahmins  irrevocably.  Caught  between  the  two 
refusals  tHellnKappy  king  had  remained  under  a  spell  these 
thousands  of  years  through  the  curse  which  the  refusals 
entailed .  ®*~  ~ 

Nowhere  is  the  connection  between  the  thing  given  and  the 
donor,  or  between  property  and  its  owner,  more  clearly 
apparent  than  in  the  rules  relating  to  gifts  of  cattle.*^  They  are 
weincn6wirrK.ing  Dharma  (taw),  Yudhisthira  himself,  the 
principal  hero  of  the  epic,  lived  among  cattle,  ate  barley  and 
cowdung  and  slept  on  the  ground  and  thus  became  'bull' 
among  kings.®^  For  three  days  and  nights  the  owner  of  cattle 
to  be  given  away  would  imitate  him  and  observe  the  'cattle 
oath'.  He  lived  exclusively  on  'cattle  juices' — water,  dung  and 
urine — for  one  night  out  of  the  three.  (Urine  is  the  residence  of 
Cri,  Fortune.)  For  one  night  out  of  the  three  he  slept  with  the 
cattle  on  the  ground  and,  adds  the  commentator,  'without 
scratching  himself  or  removing  his  vermin',  identified  himself 
with  them  in  spirit.^'  "When  he  went  to  the  stall  and  called 
them  by  their  sacred  names, ^^  he  added :  'The  cow  is  my  mother, 
the  bull  is  my  father'  and  so  on.  He  repeated  the  first  formula 
during  the  act  of  transfer.  After  praising  the  cattle  the  donor 
said:  'What  you  are,  I  am;  today  I  become  of  your  essence, 
and  giving  you  I  give  myself  ®*  And  the  recipient  when  he 
got  them  (making  the  pratighrana  '")  said:  'Transmitted  in 
spirit,  received  in  spirit,  glorify  us  both,  you  who  have  the 
forms  of  the  sun  and  moon  [Soma  and  Ugra].'  '^ 

Other  principles  of  Brahminic  law  awaken  reminiscences  of 
certain  Polynesian,  Melanesian  and  American  customs  we  have 
described.  The  manner  of  receiving  the  gift  is  curiously 
similar.  The  Brahmin  has  invincible  pride.  He  refuses  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  markets. '^  In  a  national  economy  with 
to);vns,  markets  and  money,  the  Brahmin  remains  faithful  to  the 
economy  and  morality  of  the  old  Indo-Iranian  shepherds  and 
other  aboriginal  peasants  of  the  great  plains.  He  maintains  the 
dignity  of  a  nobleman  in  taking  offence  at  favours  towards 
him.  '^  Two  sections  of  the  Mahabharata  tell  how  the  seven  rsi^ 


58  THE    GIFT 

the  great  prophets  and  their  disciples,  as  they  went  in  time  of 
famine  to  eat  the  body  of  the  son  of  the  king  Cibi,  refused  great 
gifts  and  golden  figs  offered  them  by  the  king  Caivya  Vrsadar- 
bha,  and  answered  him:  'O  King,  to  receive  from  kings  is 
honey  at  first  but  ends  as  poison.' 

This  is  a  quaint  theory.  A  whole  caste  which  lives  by  gifts 
pretends  to  refuse  them,'*  then'^compiromises  ariH'^cepts  only 
thosd'ivhTch  are  offered  spontaneously.'^  Then  it  draws  up  long 
lists  of  persons  from  whom,'^  and  circumstances  in  which,  one 
may  accept  gifts,  and  of  the  things  "  which  one  may  accept; 
and  finally  admits  everything  in  the  case  of  a  famine  '^ — on 
condition,  to  be  sure,  of  some  slight  purification.'^ 

The  bond  that  the  giftjjeates  between  the  donor  and  the 
recipient  is  too  strong  for  them.  As  in  all  systems  we  have 
studied  so  far,  as  well  as  in  others,  the  one  is  bound  too  closely 
to  the  other.  The  recipient  is  in  a  state  of  dependence  upon  the 
donor. ^^  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  Brahmin  may  not  accept 
and  still  less  solicit  from  the  king.  Divinity  among  divinities, 
he  is  superior  to  the  king  and  would  lose  his  superiority  if 
he  did  other  than  simply  take  from  him.  On  the  side  of  the 
king  his  manner  of  giving  is  as  important  as  the  fact  that  he 
gives.  ^^ 

The  gift  is  thus  soijiething  that  jnust  be  given,  that  must  be 
received. and  that  is,  at  the  same  time,  dangerous  to  accept. 
The  gift  itself  constitutes  an  irrevocable  link  especially  when 
it  is  a  gift  of  food.  The  recipient  depends  upon  the  temper  of 
the  donor,  ^2  in  fact  each  depends  upon  the  other.  Thus  a  man 
does  not  eat  with  his  enemy.  ^^ 

All  kinds  of  precautions  are  taken.  The  authors  of  the  Codes 
and  Epics  spread  themselves  as  only  Hindu  authors  can  on  the 
theme  that  gifts,  donors  and  things  given  are  to  be  considered 
in  their  context,  precisely  and  scrupulously,  so  that  there  may 
be  no  mistake  about  the  manner  of  giving  and  receiving  to  fit 
each  particular  occasion.^*  There  is  etiquette  at  every  step.  It  is 
not  the  same  as  a  market  where  a  man  takes  a  thing  objectively 
for  a  price.  Nothing  is  casual  here.^^  Contracts,  alliances, 
transmission  of  goods,  bonds  created  by  these  transfers — each 


SURVIVALS    IN    EARLY    LITERATURE  59 

Stage  in  the  process  is  regulated  morally  and  economically. 
The  nature  and  intention  of  the  contracting  parties  and  the 
nature  of  the  thing  given  are  indivisible.  The  lawyer  poet 
expresses  perfectly  what  we  want  to  describe:  'Here  is  but  one 
wheel  turning  in  one  direction.'  ^^ 


3.  Pledge  and  Gift  (Germanic  Societies) 

If  Germanic  societies  have  not  preserved  for  us  such  old 
and  meaningful  traces  of  their  theory  of  the  gift  as  the  Indian, 
they  had  none  the  less  a  clearly  developed  system  of  exchange 
with  gifts  voluntarily  and  obligatorily  given,  received  and 
repaid.  Few  systems  are  so  typical.^' 

Germanic  civilization,  too,  was  a  long  time  without 
markets.®^  It  remained  essentially  feudal  and  peasant;  the 
notion  and  even  thejterms  of  price,  purchase  and  sale  seem  to 
be  of  recent  origin.^"  In  earlier  times  it  had  developed  the 
potlatch  and  more  particularly  the  system  of  gift  exchange  to 
an  extreme  degree.  Clans  within  tribes,  great  extended  families 
within  the  clans,  tribes  between  themselves,  chiefs  and  even 
kings,  were  not  confined  morally  and  economically  to  the 
closed  circles^f  their^  own  groups ;  and  links,  alliances  and 
mutual  assistance  came  into  being  by  means  of  the  pledge,  the 
hostage  and  the  feast  or  other  acts  of  generosity.'"  We  have 
already  seen  thenrfairyrmr^giife^taken-imindie  Havamal.  There 
are  three  other  facts  to  note.  _,— - — - 

An  intensive  study  of  the  rich  Germai^  vocabulary  derived 
from  the  words  geben  and  Gaben  has  never  been  undertaken.'^ 
They  are  extraordinarily  numerous:  Ausgabe,  Abgabe,  Hingabe, 
Liebesgabe,  Morgengabe,  the  curious  Trostgabe,  vergeben,  widergeben 
and  wiedergeben,  Gift  and  Mitgift,  etc.  The  study,  too,  of  the 
institutions  designated  by  these  words  has  still  to  be  made.'^ 
On  the  other  hand,  the  system  of  gifts,  including  the  obligation 
to  repay,  and  its  importance  in  tradition  and  folklore  are 
admirably  described  by  Richard  Meyer  in  one  of  the  best 
existing  works  on  folklore.'^  We  simply  mention  it  and  retain 
for  the  moment  some  remarks  on  the  obligatory  force  of  the 


6o  THE    GIFT 

bond,  the  Angebinde,  constituted  by  exchange,  the  offer,  the 
acceptance  of  the  offer  and  the  obhgation  to  repay. 

There  is  another  institution  of  great  economic  significance 
which  persisted  until  quite  recently  and  which  no  doubt  is  still 
to  be  found  in  some  German  villages.  This  is  the  Gaben,  the 
exact  equivalent  of  the  Hindu  adanam.^*  On  days  of  baptism, 
first  communion,  betrothal  and  marriage  the  guests,  comprising 
often  the  whole  village,  giv_e  presents  whose  total  value  exceeds 
the  cost  of  the  cereinony.  In  some  districts  of  Germany  this 
Gaben  constitutes  the  bride's  dowry,  given  on  the  wedding 
morning,  and  is  known  as  the  Morgengabe.  In  places  the  abund- 
ance of  these  gifts  is  said  to  be  a  measure  of  the  fertility  of  the 
young  couple.  ^^  The  entry  into  marital  relations  and  the 
different  gifts  which  the  god-parents  hand  over  at  various 
stages  of  their  career  to  qualify  and  help  their  charges  are 
equally  important.  This  theme  is  still  recognized  in  French 
customs,  tales  and  forms  of  invitation,  in  the  curses  of  people 
not  invited  and  the  blessings  and  generosity  of  those  who  are. 

Another  institution  has  the  same  origin — the_pledge  in  all 
Jdnds—of—GeFHiaHie— contracts.  *^  The  French  word  gage  is 
connected  with  wadium  (cf  wage).  Huvelin  shows  that  the 
Germanic  wadium  provides  a  means  of  understanding  the  con- 
tractual bond  and  compares  it  with  the  Roman  nexum.^'^  In 
fact,  in  the  manner  in  which  Huvelin  interprets  it,  the  pledge 
accepted  allows  the  contracting  parties  in  Germanic  law  to 
react  on  each  other,  because  one  possesses  something  of  the 
other  who,  having  once  owned  it,  might  well  have  put  a  spell 
on  it;  or  else  because  the  pledge  is  split  in  two,  a  half  being  kept 
by  each  partner.  But  we  can  suggest  a  more  direct  interpreta- 
tion. The  magical  sanction  may  intervene  but  it  is  not  the  sole 
bond.  The  thing  given  as  a  pledge  must  be  given._In  Germanic 
law  each  contract,  sale  or  purchase,  loan  or  deposit,  entaiTs  a 
pledge:  one  partner  is  given  an  object,  generally  something  of 
little  value  like  a  glove  or  a  piece  of  money  {Treugeld),  a  knife, 

Or  perhaps — as  with  the  French — a  pin  or  two,  and  this^; - 

returne^^jwhen  the  thing  handed  over  is  paid  for.  Huvelin  has 
already  noted  that  the  thing  is  something  ordinary,  personal 


SURVIVALS    IN    EARLY    LITERATURE  6l 

or  of  little  value;  and  he  rightly  compares  this  with  the  theme 
of  the  'life-token'.  The  pledge  thus  given  is  in  fact  imbued  with 
the  personality  of  the  partner  who  gave  it.  The  fact  that  it  is  in 
the  hands  of  the  recipient  moves  its  donor  to  fulfil  his  part  of 
the  contract  and  buy  himself  back  by  buying  the  thing.  Thus 
the  nexum  is  in  the  thing  used  as_ajpledge  and  not  only  in  the 
magical  acts  or  tlig^jQlenHr-fbrms  of  the  contract,  the  words, 
oaths,  ritual  and  handshakes^.£xchanged ;  it  is  present  not  only 
in  the  acts  of  magical  significance,  the  tallies  of  which  each 
partner  keeps  a  share,  or  the  joint  meals  where  each  partakes  of 
the  other's  substance;  it  is  present  in  the  thing  as  well. 

Two  characteristics  of  ihewadiatio  prove  the  pxesence  of 
this  power  ifl—tKFThing.  First  the  pledge  not  only  creates 
obligations  and  acts  as  a  binding  force  but  it  also  engages  the 
honour,  authority  and  mana  of  the  man  who  hands  it  over.*^ 
He  remains  in  an  inferior  position  so  long  as  he  is  not  freed  from 
his  'engagement-wager'.  For  the  words  Wette  and  wetten,^^ 
translations  of  wadium,  imply  wager  as  much  as  pledge.  It  is 
the  price  of  an  agreement  and  the  recognition  of  a  challenge, 
even  more  than  a  means  of  constraining  the  debtor.  As  long  as 
the  contract  is  not  terminated  it  is  a  wager  lost,  and  thus  the 
contractor  loses  more  than  he  bargained  for — not  counting  the 
fact  that  he  is  liable  to  lose  the  thing  received  which  its  owner 
is  at  liberty  to  reclaim  so  long  as  the  pledge  is  not  honoured. 
The  other  characteristic  shows  the  danger  of  receiving  the 
pfedgerF'of  it  Is  noTolrly^liFpTersoiLwha  gives  itTtratIs  bound, 
but  also  the  one  who  receives  it.  As  with  the  recipient  in  the 
Trobriands  he  distrusts  the  thing  given.  Thus  it  is  thrown  at 
his  feet;  if  it  is  afestuca  notata  with  runic  characters,  or  a  tally 
of  which  he  is  to  keep  a  part,  he  receives  it  on  the  ground  or 
in  his  breast  but  never  in  his  hands.^°°  The  whole  ritual  takes 
the  form  of  challenge  and  distrust,  and  is  an  expression  of  them. 
In  English,  'to  throw  down  the  gage'  is  the  equivalent  of  'to 
throw  down  the  gauntlet'.  The  fact  is  that  the  pledge  as  a  thing 
given  spells  danger  for  the  two  parties  concerned. 

Here^j,s_aJjiird'p6int.  The  danger  represented  by  the  thing 
given  or  transmitted  is  possibly  nowhere  better  expressed  than 


62  THE    GIFT 

in  very  ancient  Germanic  languages.  This  explains  the  double 
meaning  of  the  word  Gift  as  gift  and  poison.  Elsewhere  we  have 
given  a  semantic  history  of  this  word.^"^  The  theme  of  the 
fateful  gift,  the  present  or  possession  that  turns  into  poison,  is  ^ 
fundamental  in  Germanic  folklore.  The  Rhine  Gold  is  fatal  to 
the  man  who  wins  it,  the  Cup  of  Hagen  is  disastrous  to  the  hero 
who  drinks  of  it;  numerous  tales  and  legends  of  this  kind, 
Germanic  and  Celtic,  still  haunt  our  imaginations.  We  may 
quote  the  stanza  in  which  the  hero  of  the  Edda,  Hreidmar, 
replies  to  the  curses  of  Loki : 

'Thou  hast  given  presents 

But  thou  hast  not  given  presents  of  love. 

Thou  hast  not  given  of  a  benevolent  heart; 

Thou  hadst  already  been  deprived  of  thy  life, 

Had  I  but  known  the  danger  sooner.'  ^^^ 

Chinese  Law 

Finally  a  great  civilization,  the  Chinese,  has  preserved  from 
archaic  times  the  very  legal  principle  that  interests  us:  it 
recognize^jiie jndissolubieHscnd-TjfXnthing  with  its  original 
owner.  Even  today  the  man  who  sells  property,  even  personal 
property,  retains  the  right  during  the  rest  of  his  life  to  'weep 
over  it'.^°^  Father  Hoang  brought  to  notice  copies  of  these 
'mourning  Ucences'  as  given  by  the  buyer  to  the  vendor.^"*  A 
kind  of 'right  of  pursuit'  is  established  over  the  thing  combined 
with  a  right  of  pursuit  over  its  owner,  and  the  vendor  retains 
this  right  long  after  the  thing  has  fallen  into  other  hands  and 
all  the  terms  of  the  'irrevocable'  contract  have  been  fulfilled. 
Because  of  the  thing  transmitted  (and  whether  it  depreciates 
or  not)  the  alhance  contracted  is  not  temporary,  and  the 
contracting  parties  are  bound  in  perpetual  interdependence. 

As  for  Annamitc  custom  Westermarck  ^°^  noted  that  it  was 
dangerous  to  receive  a  gift,  and  perceived  some  of  the  signi- 
ficance of  this  fact. 


Chapter  iV 

CONCLUSIONS 

I.  Moral  Conclusions 

LET  us  extend  our  observations  to  the  present  day.  Much 
of  our  everyday  moraUty  is  concerned  with  the  question 
of  obUgation  and  spontaneity  in  the  gift.  It  is  our  good 
fortune  that  all  is  not  yet  couched  in  terms  of  purchase  and  salc^ 
Things  have  values  which  are  emotional  as  well  as  material; 
indeed  in  some  cases  the  values  are  entirely  emotional.  Ou^ 
mor^ity  is  not  solely  commercial.  We  still  have  people  ana 
classes  who  uphold  past  customs  and  we  bow  to  them  on  special 
occasions  and  at  certain  periods  of  the  year. 

The  gift  not  yet  repaid  debases  the  man  who  accepted  it, 
particularly  if  he  did  so  without  thought  of  return.  In  recalling 
Emerson's  curious  essay  On  Gifts  and  Presents  wc  are  not  leaving  -^ 
tHeXrermanic  field :  charity  wounds  him  who  receives,  and  our 
whole  moral  effort  is  directed  towards  suppressing  the  un- 
conscious harmful  patronage  of  the  rich  almoner.^ 

Just  as  a  courtesy  has  to  be  returned,  so  must  an  invitation. 
Here  we  find  traces  of  the  traditional  basis,  the  aristocratic 
potlatch;  and  we  see  at  work  also  some  of  the  fundamental 
motives  of  human  activity :  emulation  between  individuak  of 
the  same  sex,  the  basic  'imperialism'  of  men — of  origin  part 
social,  part  animal  or  psychological  no  doubt.^  In  the  dis- 
tinctive sphere  of  our  social  life  we  can  never  remain  at  rest. 
Wc  must  always  return  more  than  we  receive;  the  return  is  \  .y 
always  bigger  and  more  costly.  A  family  of  my  childhood  in  ' 
Lorraine,  which  was  forced  to  a  most  frugal  existence,  would 
face  ruin  for  the  sake  of  its  guests  on  Saints'  Days,  weddings, 
first  communions  and  funerals.  You  had  to  be  a  grand  seigneur 
on  these  occasions.  Some  of  our  people  behave  like  this  all  the 

63 


64  THE    GIFT 

time  and  spend  money  recklessly  on  their  guests,  parties  and 
New  Year  gifts. 

Invitations  have  to  be  offered  and  have  to  be  accepted. 
This  usage  still  exists  in  our  present-day  liberal  societies. 
Scarcely  fifty  years  ago,  and  perhaps  more  recently  in  some 
parts  of  France  and  Germany,  the  whole  village  would  take 
part  in  a  wedding  feast;  if  anyone  held  away  it  was  an  indica- 
tion of  jealousy  and  at  the  same  time  a  fateful  omen.  In  many 
districts  of  France  everyone  still  has  a  part  in  the  proceedings. 
In  Provence  on  the  birth  of  a  child  folk  still  bring  along  their 
egg  or  some  other  symbolic  present. 

Things  sold  have  thejr  personality  even  nowadays.  At 
Cornimont,  m  a  valley  in  the  Vosges,  the  following  custom 
prevailed  a  short  time  ago  and  may  perhaps  still  be  found  in 
some  famihes :  in  order  that  animals  should  forget  their  former 
masters  and  not  be  tempted  to  go  back  to  them,  a  cross  was 
made  on  the  lintel  of  the  stable  door,  the  vendor's  halter  was 
retained  and  the  animals  were  hand-fed  with  salt.  At  Raon- 
aux-Bois  a  small  butter-tart  was  carried  thrice  round  the  dairy 
and  offered  to  the  animals  with  the  right  hand.  Numerous 
other  French  customs  show  how  it  is  necessary  to  detach  the 
thing  sold  from  the  man  who  sells  it:  a  thing  may  be  slapped, 
ja  sheep  may  be  whipped  when  sold,  and  so  on.^ 

It  appears  that  the  whole  field  of  industrial  and  commercial 
law  is  in  conflict  with  morality.  The  economic  prejudices  of  the 
Deople  and  producers  derive  from  their  strong  desire  to  pursue^^ 
the  thing  they  have  produced  once  they  realize  that  they|h^V« 
I  given  their  labour  without  sharing  in  the  profits,  i  ^ 

\  Today  the  ancient  principles  are  making  their  influence 
felt  upon  the  rigours,  abstractions  and  inhumanities  of  our 
codes.  From  this  point  of  view  much  of  our  law  is  in  process  of 
reformulation  and  some  of  our  innovations  consist  in  putting 
back  the  clock.  This  reaction  against  Roman  and  Saxon 
insensibihty  in  our  regime  is  a  good  thing.  We  can  interpret  in 
this  way  some  of  the  more  recent  developments  in  our  laws  and 
customs.  -^  ^  ^  ^^' 

It  took  a  long  time  for  artistic,  literary  or  scientific  owner- 


.f 


CONCLUSIONS  65 

ship  to  be  recognized  beyond  the  right  to  sell  the  manuscript, 
invention,  or  work  of  art.  Societies  have  little  interest  in 
admitting  that  the  heirs  of  an  author  or  inventor — who  are, 
after  all,  their  benefactors — have  more  than  a  few  paltry  rights 
in  the  things  created.  These  are  readily  acclaimed  as  products 
of  the  collective  as  well  as  the  individual jiiind^jand  hence  to  be 
public  property.  However,  the  scandal  of  the  increment  value 
drpainHngsTscuIptures  and  objets  d'art  inspired  the  French  law 
of  September  1923  which  gives  the  artist  and  his  heirs  and 
claimants  a  'right_o£^lirsuit^  trver  the  successive  increments  of 
his  works.  ,  x 

French  legislation  on  ^ocial  insurance^  and  accomplished 
state  socialism,  are  inspired  by  the  principle  that  the  worker 
gives  his  life  and  labour  partly  to  the  community  and  partly  to 
his  bosses.  If  the  worker  has  to  collaborate  in  the  business  of 
insurance  then  those  who  benefit  from  his  services  are  not 
square  with  him  simply  by  paying  him  a  wage.  The  State, 
representing  the  community,  owes  him  and  his  management 
and  fellow-workers  a  certain  security  in  his  life  against  unem- 
ployment, sickness,  old  age  and  death. 

In  the  same  way  some  ingenious  innovations  like  the  family 
funds  freely  and  enthusiastically  provided  by  industrialists  for 
workers  with  families,  are  an  answer  to  the  need  for  employers 
to  get  men  attached  to  them  and  to  realize  their  responsibilities 
and  the  degree  of  material  and  moral  interest  that  these 
responsibilities  entail.  In  Great  Britain  the  long  period  of 
unemployment  affecting  millions  of  workers  gave  rise  to  a 
movement  for  compulsory  unemployment  insurance  organized 
by  unions.  The  cities  and  the  State  were  slow  to  support  the 
high  cost  of  paying  the  workless,  whose  condition  arose  from 
that  of  industry  and  the  market;  but  some  distinguished 
economists  and  captains  of  industry  saw  that  industries  them- 
selves should  organize  unemployment  savings  and  make  the 
necessary  sacrifices.  They  wanted  the  cost  of  the  workers' 
security  against  unemployment  to  form  a  part  of  the  expenses 
of  the  industry  concerned. 

We  believe  that  such  ideas  and  legislation  correspond  not 


66  THE    GIFT 

to  an  upheaval,  but  to  a  return  to  law.*  We  are  seeing  the  dawn 
and  realization  of  professional  morality  and  corporate  law. 
The  compensation  funds  and  mutual  societies  which  industrial 
groups  are  forming  in  favour  of  labour  have,  in  the  eyes  of  pure 
morality,  only  one  flaw :  their  administration  is  in  the  hands  of 
the  bosses.  But  there  is  also  group  activity;  the  State,  munici- 
palities, public  assistance  establishments,  works  managements 
and  wage-earners  are  all  associated,  for  instance,  in  the  social 
legislation  of  Germany  and  Alsace-Lorraine,  and  will  shortly 
be  in  France.  Thus  we  are  returning  to  a  i  group  morahty. 

On  the  other  hand,  it  is  the  individual  that  the  State  and 
the  groups  within  the  State  want  to  look  after.  Society  wants 
to  discover  the  social  'cell'.  It  seeks  the  individual  in  a  curious 
frame  of  mind  in  which  the  sentiments  of  its  own  laws  are 
mingled  with  other,  purer  sentiments:  charity,  social  service 
/and  solidarity.  The  theme  of  the  gift,  of  freedom  and  obligation 
m  the  gift,  of  generosity  and  self-interest  in  giving,  reappear  in 
our  own  society  like  the  resurrection  of  a  dominant  motif  long 
forgotten. 

But  a  mere  statement  of  what  is  taking  place  is  not  enough. 
We  should  deduce  from  it  some  course  of  action  or  moral 
precept.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  say  that  law  is  in  the  process  of 
shedding  an  abstraction — the  distinction  between  real  and 
personal  law — or  that  it  is  adding  some  fresh  rules  to  the  ill- 
made  legislation  on  sale  and  payment  for  services.  We  want 
to  show  also  that  the  transformation  is  a  good  one. 

We  are  returning,  as  indeed  we  must  do,  to  the  old  theme 
of  'noble  expenditure'.  It  is  essential  that,  as  in  Anglo-Saxon 
couritries  and  so  many  contemporary  societies,  savage  and 
civihzed,  the  rich  should  come  once  more,  freely  or  by  obliga- 
tion, to  consider  themselves  as  the  treasurers,  as  it  were,  of 
their  fellow-citizens.  Of  the  ancient  civilizations  from  which 
ours  has  arisen  some  had  the  jubilee,  others  the  Hturgy,  the 
choragus,  the  trierarchy,  the  syssita  or  the  obligatory  expenses 
of  the  aedile  or  consular  official.  We  should  return  to  customs 
of  this  sort.  Then  we  need  better  care  of  the  individual's  life, 
health  and  education,  his  family  and  its  future.  We  need  more 


CONCLUSIONS  67 

good  faith,  sympathy  and  generosity  in  the  contracts  of  hire 
and  service,  rents  and  sale  of  the  necessities  of  Hfe.  And  we  have 
to  find  the  means  of  hmiting  the  fruits  of  speculation  and  usury. 
Meanwhile  the  individual  must  work  and  be  made  to  rely  more 
upon  himself  than  upon  others.  From  another  angle  he  must 
defend  his  group's  interest  as  well  as  his  own.  Communism  and 
too  much  generosity  is  as  harmful  to  him  and  society  as  the 
selfishness  of  our  contemporaries  or  the  individualism  of  our 
laws.  In  the  Mahabharata  a  malignant  wood  spirit  explains  to 
a  Brahmin  who  has  given  too  much  away  to  the  wrong  people : 
'That  is  why  you  are  thin  and  pale.'  The  life  of  the  monk  and 
the  life  of  Shylock  are  both  to  be  avoided.  This  new  morality 
will  consist  of  a  happy  medium  between  the  ideal  and  the  real. 

Hence  we  should  return  to  the  old  and  elemental.  Once 
again  we  shall  discover  those  motives  of  action  still  remembered 
by  many  societies  and  classes:  the  joy  of  giving  in  public,  the 
delight  in  generous  artistic  expenditure,  the  pleasure  of 
hospitality  in  the  public  or  private  feast.  Social  insurance, 
solicitude  in  mutuality  or  co-operation,  in  the  professional 
group  and  all  those  moral  persons  called  Friendly  Societies,  are 
better  than  the  mere  personal  security  guaranteed  by  the 
nobleman  to  his  tenant,  better  than  the  mean  life  afforded  by' 
the  daily  wage  handed  out  by  managements,  and  better  even 
than  the  uncertainty  of  capitalist  savings. 

We  can  visualize  a  society  in  which  these  principles  obtain. 
In  the  liberal  professions  of  our  great  nations  such  a  moral  and 
economic  system  is  to  some  degree  in  evidence.  For  honour, 
disinterestedness  and  corporate  solidarity  are  not  vain  words, 
nor  do  they  deny  the  necessity  for  work.  We  should  humanize 
the  other  liberal  professions  and  make  all  of  them  more  perfect. 
That  would  be  a  great  deed,  and  one  which  Durkheim  already 
had  in  view. 

In  doing  this  we  should,  we  believe,  return  to  the  ever- 
present  bases  of  law,  to  its  real  fundamentals  and  to  the  very 
heart  of  normal  social  life.  There  is  no  need  to  wish  that  the 
citizen  should  be  too  subjective,  too  insensitive  or  too  realistic. 
He  should  be  vividly  aware  of  himself,  of  others  and  of  the 


# 


68  THE    GIFT 

social  reality  (and  what  other  reality  is  there  in  these  moral 
matters?).  He  must  act  with  full  Realization  of  himself,  of 
society  and  its  sub-groups.  The  basis  of  moral  action  is  general; 
it  is  common  to  societies  of  the  highest  degree  of  evolution,  to 
those  of  the  future  and  to  societies  of  the  least  advancement. 
Here  we  touch  bedrock.  We  are  talking  no  longer  in  terms  of 
law.  We  are  talking  of  men  and  groups  since  it  is  they,  society, 
and  their  sentiments  that  are  in  action  all  the  time. 

Let  us  demonstrate  this  point.  What  we  call  total  prestation 
— prestation  between  clan  and  clan  in  which  individuals  and 
/''T\  groups  exchange  everything  between  them — constitutes  the 
V^j^oldest  economic  system  we  know.  It  is  the  base  from  which 
gift-exchange  arose.  Now  it  is  precisely  this  same  type  towards 
which  we  are  striving  to  have  our  own  society — on  its  own  scale 
— directed.  The  better  to  visualize  these  distant  epochs 
we  give  two  examples  from  widely  differing  societies. 

In  a  corroboree  of  Pine  Mountain  (East  Central  Queens- 
land) each  person  enters  the  sacred  place  in  turn,  his  spear- 
thrower  in  one  hand  and  the  other  hand  behind  his  back;  he 
lobs  his  weapon  to  the  far  end  of  the  dancing  ground,  shouting 
at  the  same  time  the  name  of  the  place  he  comes  from,  like: 
'Kunyan  is  my  home'.  He  stands  still  for  a  moment  while  his 
friends  put  gifts,  a  spear,  a  boomerang  or  other  weapon,  into 
his  other  hand.  'Thus  a  good  warrior  may  get  more  than  his 
hand  can  hold,  particularly  if  he  has  marriageable  daughters.'  ^ 
In  the  Winnebago  tribe  clan  chiefs  make  speeches  to  chiefs 
of  other  clans;  these  are  characteristic  examples  of  a  ceremonial 
which  is  widespread  among  North  American  Indian  civiliza- 
tions.* At  the  clan  feast  each  clan  cooks  food  and  prepares 
tobacco  for  the  representatives  of  other  clans.  Here  by  way  of 
illustration  are  extracts  from  the  speeches  given  by  the  Snake 
Clan  chief:  T  salute  you;  it  is  well;  how  could  I  say  otherwise? 
I  am  a  poor  man  of  no  worth  and  you  have  remembered  me. 
You  have  thought  of  the  spirits  and  you  have  come  to  sit  with 
me.  And  so  your  dishes  will  soon  be  filled,  and  I  salute  you 
again,  you  men  who  take  the  place  of  the  spirits.  .  .  .'  When  one 
of  the  chiefs  has  eaten,  an  offering  of  tobacco  is  put  in  the  fire 


CONCLUSIONS  69 

and  the  final  sentences  express  the  moral  significance  of  the 
feast  and  the  prestations:  'I  thank  you  for  coming  to  fill  my 
places  and  I  am  grateful  to  you.  You  have  encouraged  me. 
The  blessings  of  your  grandfathers  [who  had  revelations  and 
whom  you  incarnate]  are  equal  to  those  of  the  spirits.  It  is  good 
that  you  have  partaken  of  my  feast.  It  must  be  that  our  grand- 
fathers have  said:  "Your  life  is  weak  and  can  be  strengthened 
only  by  the  advice  of  the  warriors."  You  have  helped  me  and 
that  means  life  to  me.'  ' 

A  wise  precept  has  run  right  through  human  evolution,  and 
we  would  be  as  well  to  adopt  it  as  a  principle  of  action.  We 
should  come  out  of  ourselves  and  regard  the  duty  of  giving  as 
a  liberty,  for  in  it  there  lies  no  risk.  A  fine  Maori  proverb  runs: 

^Ko  maru  kai  atu 

Ko  maru  kai  mai, 

Ka  ngohe  ngohe.^ 
'Give  as  much  as  you  receive  and  all  is  for  the  best.'  ^ 

2.  Political  and  Economic  Conclusions 

Our  facts  do  more  than  illumine  our  morality  and  point 
out  our  ideal;  for  they  help  us  to  analyse  economic  facts  of  a 
more  general  nature,  and  our  analysis  might  suggest  the  way 
to  better  administrative  procedures  for  our  societies. 

We  have  repeatedly  pointed  out  how  this  economy  of  gift- 
exchange  fails  to  conform  to  the  principles  of  so-called  natural 
economy  or  utilitarianism.  The  phenomena  in  the  economic 
life  of  the  people  we  have  studied  (and  they  are  good  repre- 
sentatives of  the  great  neolithic  stage  of  civilization)  and  the 
survivals  of  these  traditions  in  societies  closer  to  ours  and  even 
in  our  own  custom,  are  disregarded  in  the  schemes  adopted  by 
the  few  economists  who  have  tried  to  compare  the  various 
forms  of  economic  life.*.  We  add  our  own  observations  to  those 
of  Malinowski  who  devoted  a  whole  work  to  ousting  the 
prevalent  doctrines  on  primitive  economics.^" 

Here  is  a  chain  of  jmdoubted  fact.  The  notionof,j^ahiC" 
exists  in  these  societies.  IVery  great  surpluses,  even  by  European 


70  THE    GIFT 

Standards,  are  amassed;  they  are  expended  often  at  pure  loss 
with  tremendous  extravagance  and  without  a  trace  of  mer- 
cenariness;  ^^  among  things  exchanged  are  tokens  of  wealth,  a 
kind  of  money.   All  this  very  rich   economy  is  nevertheless 

1  imbued  with^religious^elernents ;  mojiey^'Still  has  its  magical 
power  and  is  linked  to  clan  and  individual.  Diverse_economic 

..a£livities= — for  example,  the  market — are  impregnated  with 
ritual  and  myth;  they  retain  a  ceremonial  character,  obligatory 

J  and  efficacious-;^'^  they  have  their  own  ritual  and  etiquettje.J 
Here  is  the  answer  to  the  question  already  posed  by  Durkheim 
about  the. religious  ori^iji  of  the  notion  of  economic  value.^^ 

iThe  facts  also  supply  answers  to  a  string  of  problems  about  the 
forms  and  origins  of  what  is  so  badly  termed  exchange — the 
barter  or  permutatio  of  useful  articles.^*  In  the  view  of  cautious 
Latin  authors  in  the  Aristotelian  tradition  and  their  a  priori 
economic  history,  this  is  the  origin  of  the  division  of  labour .^^J 

'^'On  the  contrary,  it  is  something  other  than  utility  which  makes 
goods  circulate  in  these  multifarious  and  fairly  enhghtened 
societies.  Clans,  age  groups  and  sexes,  in  view  of  the  many 
relationships  ensuing  from  contacts  between  them,  are  in  a 
state  of  perpetual  ec^onomic  effervescence  which  has  little  about 
it  that  is  materialistic;  it  is  much  less  prosaic  than  our  sale  and 
purchaseT^hire  of  services  and  speculations. 

We  may  go  farther  than  this  and  brealc  down,  reconsider 
and  redefine  the  principal  notions  of  which  we  have  already 
made  use.  Our  terms  'present'  and  'gift'  do  not  have  precise 
meanings,  but  we  could  find  no  others.  Concepts  which  we  like 
to  put  in  opposition — freedom  and  obligation;  generosity, 
hberality,  luxury  on  the  one  hand  and  saving,  interest,  austerity 
on  the  other — are  not  exact  and  it  would  be  well  to  put  them 
to  the  test.  We  cannot  deal  very  fully  with  this;  but  let  us  take 
an  example  from  the  Trobriands.  It  is  a  complex  notion  that 
inspires  the  economic  actions  we  have  described,  a  notion 
neither  of  purely  free  and  gratuitous  prestations,  nor  of  purely 
interested  and  utilitarian  production  and  exchange;  it  is  a 

-Jiind  of  hybrid. 

Malinowski  made  a  serious  effort  to  classify  all  the  trans- 


CONCLUSIONS  71 

actions  he  witnessed  in  the  Trobriands  according  to  the  interest 
or  disinterestedness  present  in  them.  He  ranges  them  from  pure 
gift  to  barter jwith  J)argaining,  but  this  classification  is  unten- 
aoTe."  Thus  according  to  Mahnowski  the  typical  'pure  gift'  is 
that  between  spouses.  Now  in  our  view  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant acts  noted  by  the  author,  and  one  which  throws  a 
strong  light  on  sexual  relationships,  is  the  mapula,  the  sequence 
of  payments  by  a  husband  to  his  wife  as  a  kind  of  salary  for 
5£XiiaLservices.^'  Likewise  the  payments  to  chiefs  are  tribute; 
the  distributions  of  food  {sagali)  are  payments  for  labour  or 
ritual  accomplished,  such  as  work  done  on  the  eve  of  a  funeral. ^^ 
Thus  basically  as  these  gifts  are  not^s]X)nt5.neous-SQ_also  they 
are  not  really  disinferestedj  They  are  for  the  most  part  counter- 
prestations  made  not  solely  in  order  to  pay  for  goods  or  services, 
but  also  to  maintain  a  profitable  alliance  which  it  would  be 
unwise  to  reject,  as  for  instance  partnership  between  fishing 
tribes  and  tribes  of  hunters  and  potters.^^' Now  this  fact  is 
widespread — we  have  met  it  with  the  Maori,  Tsimshian  and 
others.^"  Thus  it  is  clear  wherein  this  mystical  and  practical 
force  resides,  which  at  once  binds  clans  together  and  keeps  them 
separate,  which  divides  their  labour  and  constrains  them  to 
exchange.  Even  in  these  societies  the  individuals  and  the 
groups,  or  rather  the  sub-groups,  have  always  felt  the  sovereign 
right  to  refuse  a  contract,  and  it  is  this  which  lends  an  appear- 
ance of  generosity  to  the  circulation  of  goods.  On  the  other 
hand,  normally  they  had  neither  the  right  of,  nor  interest  in, 
such  a  refusal;  and  it  is  that  which  makes  these  distant  societies 
seem  akin  to  ours. 

The  use  of /money  suggests  other  considerations.  The  Tro- 
briand  i'a>'^«'a,'  armshells  and  necklaces,  like  the  North- West 
American  coppers  and  Iroquois  wampum,  are  at  once  wealth, 
tokens  of  wealth,^!  means  of  exchange  and  payment,  and  things 
to  be  given  away  or  destroyed.  In  addition  they  are  pledges, 
linked  to  the  persons  who  use  them  and  who  in  turn  are  bound 
by  them.  Since,  however,  at  other  times  they  serve  as  tokens  of 
money,  there  is  interest  in  giving  them  away,  for  if  they  are 
transformed  into  services  or  merchandise  that  yield  money  then 


72  THE    GIFT 

one  is  better  off  in  the  end.  We  may  truly  say  that  the  Tro- 
briand  or  Tsimshian  chief  behaves  somewhat  Hke  the  capitaHst 
who  knovvs_hoi\L-to-speRd-his  money  at  the^Tght  time  only  to 
build  his  capital  up  again.  Interest  and  disinterestedness  taken 
together  explain  this  form  of  the  circulation  of  wealth  and  of 
the  circulation  of  tokens  of  wealth  that  follows  upon  it. 

pEven  the  destruction  of  wealth  does  not  correspond  to  the 
complete  disinterestedness  which  one  might  expect.  These 
great  acts  of  .^enerogity -arc^no^  free  fronr-^^ifjnterest.  The 
extravagant  consumption  of  wealth,  particularly  in  the  pot- 
latch,  always  exaggerated  and  often  purely  destructive,  in 
which  goods  long  stored  are  all  at  once  given  away  or  destroyed, 
lends  to  these  institutions  the  appearance  of  wasteful  expendi- 
ture and  child-like  prodigality.^^  Not  only  are  valuable  goods 
thrown  away  and  foodstuffs  consumed  to  excess  but  there  is 
destruction  for  its  own  sake — coppers  are  thrown  into  the  sea 
or  broken.  But  the  motives  of  such  excessive  gifts  and  reckless 
consumption,  such  mad  losses  and  destruction  of  wealth, 
especially  in  these  potlatch  societies,  are  in  no  way  disinterested. 
Between  vassals  and  chiefs,  between  vassals  and  their  henchmen, 
the  hierarchy  is  established  by  means  of  these  gifts.  To  give  is 
to  show  one's  superiority,  to  show  that  one  is  something  more 
and  higher,  that  one  is  magister.  To  accept  without  returning  or 
repaying  more  is  to  face  subordination,  to  become  a  client  and 
subservient,  to  become  minister.. 

The  magic  ritual  in  the  kula  known  as  mwasila  contains 
spells  and  symbols  which  show  that  the  man  who  wants  to  enter 
into  a  contract  seeks  above  all  profit  in  the  form  of  social — 
one  might  almost  say  animal — superiority.  Thus  he  charms  the 
betel-nut  to  be  used  with  his  partners,  casts  a  spell  over  the 
chief  and  his  fellows,  then  over  his  own  pigs,  his  necklaces,  his 
head  and  mouth,  the  opening  gifts  and  whatever  else  he  carries; 
then  he  chants,  not  without  exaggeration:  T  shall  kick  the 
mountain,  the  mountain  moves  .  .  .  the  mountain  falls  down. 
.  .  .  My  spell  shall  go  to  the  top  of  Dobu  Mountain.  .  .  .  My 
canoe  will  sink.  .  .  .  My  fame  is  like  thunder,  my  treading  is 
like  the  roar  of  flying  witches,  .  .  .  Tudududu.'  ^^  The  aim  is  to 


CONCLUSIONS  73 

be  the  first,  the  finest,  luckiest,  strongest  and  richest,  and  that 
is  how  to  set  about  it.  (Later  the  chief  confirms  his  mana  when 
he  redistributes  to  his  vassals  and  relatives  what  he  has  just 
received;  he  maintains  his  rank  among  the  chiefs  by  exchanging 
armshells  for  necklaces,  hospitality  for  visits,  and  so  on.  In  this 
case  wealth  is,  in  every  aspect,  as  much  a  thing  of  prestige  as  a 
thing  of  utility.  'But  are  we  certain  that  our  own  position  is 
different  and  that  wealth  with  us  is  not  first  and  foremost  a 
means  of  controlling  others  ? 

Let  us  test  now  the  notion  to  which  we  have  opposed  the 
ideas  of  the  gift  and  disinterestedness:  that  of  interest^^nd  the 
individual  pursuit  of  utility.  This  agrees  no  better  with  previous 
theories.  If  similar  motives  animate  Trobriand  and  American 
chiefs  and  Andaman  clans  and  once  animated  generous  Hindu 
or  Germanic  noblemen  in  their  giving  and  spending,  they  are 
not  to  be  found  in  the  cold  reasoning  of  the  business  man, 
banker  or  capitalist.  iTrLthose  earlier  civiUzatiQiis  one  had! 
interests  but  they  differed  from  those  of  our  time.  jThere,  if  one! 
hoards,  itTs^  only  to  spend  later  on,  to  put  people  under  obliga- 
tions and  to  win  followers.  Exchanges  are  made  as  well,  but 
only  of  luxury  objects  like  clothing  and  ornaments,  or  feasts 
and  other  things  that  are  consumed  at  once.  Return  is  made 
with  interest,  but  that  is  done  in  order  to  humiHate  the  original 
donor  or  exchange  partner  and  not  merely  to  recompense  him 
fortheiossThar the  lapse  of  time  causes  him.  He  has  an  interest 
but  It  Is  "only  analogous  to  the  one  which  we  say  is  our  guiding 
principle. 

Ranged  between  the  relatively  amorphous  and  disinterested 
economy  within  the  sub-groups  of  Austrahan  and  North 
American  (Eastern  and  Prairie)  clans,  and  the  individualistic 
economy  of  pure  interest  which  our  societies  have  had  to  some 
extent  ever  since  their  discovery  by  Greeks  and  Semites,  there 
is  a  great  series  of  institutions  and  economic  events  nojL_ 
^governed  by  the  rationalism  which  past  theory  so  readily  took 

for  granted.  ^ — - 

The  word  'interest'  is  recent  in  origin  and  can  be  traced 
back  to  the  Latin  interest  written  on  account  books  opposite 


74  THE    GIFT 

rents  to  be  recovered.  In  the  most  epicurean  of  these  philoso- 
phies pleasure  and  the  good  were  pursued  and  not  material 
utility.  The  victory  of  rationalism  and  mercantilism  was 
required  before  the  notions  of  profit  and  the  individual  were 
given  currency  and  raised  to  the  level  of  principles.  One  can 
date  roughly^ — after  Mandeville  and  his  Fable  des  Abeilles — the 
triumph  of  the  notion  of  individual  interest.  It  is  only  by 
awkward  paraphrasing  that  one  can  render  the  phrase  'indi- 
vidual interest'  in  Latin,  Greek  or  Arabic.  Even  the  men  who 
wrote  in  classical  Sanskrit  and  used  the  word  artha,  which  is 
fairly  close  to  our  idea  of  interest,  turned  it,  as  they  did  with 
other  categories  of  action,  into  an  idea  different  from  ours.  The 
sacred  books  of  ancient  India  divide  human  actions  into  the 
categories  of  law  (dharma),  interest  (artha)  and  desire  (kama). 
But  artha  refers  particularly  to  the  political  interest  of  king, 
Brahmins  and  ministers,  or  royalty  and  the  various  castes. 
The  considerable  literature  of  the  Niticastra  is  not  economic 
in  tone. 

.  It  is  only  our  Western  societies  that  quite  recently  turned 
nianjntp  an  economic  animal.  But  we  are  not  yet  all  animals 
of  the  same  species.  In  ,_both  lower  and  upper  class.es  pure^ 
irrational  expenditure  is  in  current  practice:  it  is  still  charac- 
teristic of  some  French  noble  houses.  Homo  oeconomicus  is  not 
behind  us,  but  before,  like  the  moral  man,  the  man  of  duty,  the 
scientific  man  and  the  reasonable  man.  For  a  long  time  man 
was  something  quite  different;  and  it  is  not  so  long  now  since 
he  became  a  machine — a  calculating_  machine. 

In  other  respects  we  are  stilLJar  from  frigid  utilitarian 
calculation.  Make  a  thorough  statistical  analysis,  as  Halb- 
wachs  did  for  the  working  classes,  of  the  consumption  and 
expenditure  of  our  middle  classes  and  how  many  needs  are 
found  satisfied?  How  many  desires  are  fulfilled  that  have 
utility  as  their  end?  Does  not  the  rich  man's  expenditure  on 
luxury,  art,  servants  and  extravagances  recall  the  expenditure 
of  the  nobleman  of  former  times  or  the  savage  chiefs  whose 
customs  we  have  been  describing? 

It  is  another  question  to  ask  if  it  is  good  that  this  should  be 


CONCLUSIONS  75 

so.  It  is  a  good  thing  possibly  that  there  exist  means  of  expendi- 
ture and  exchange  other  than  economic  ones.  However,  wc 
contend  that  the  best  economic  procedure  is  not  to  be  found  in 
the  calculation  of  individual  needs.  I  believe  that  we  must 
become,  in  proportion  as  we  would  develop  our  wealth, 
something  more  than  better  financierSj__accoimtants  and 
administrators.  Thejnere  pursuit  of  individual  ends  Ts  HarfnTul  ^ 
to  the  ends  and  peace  of  the  whole,  to  the  rhythm  of  its  work 
and  pleasures,  and  hence  in  the  end  to  the  individual. 

We  have  just  seen  how  important  sections  and  groups  of 
our  capital  industries  are  seeking  to  attach  groups  of  their 
employees  to  them.  Again  all  the  syndicalist  groups,  employers' 
as  much  as  wage-earners',  claim  that  they  are  defending  and 
representing  the  general  interest  with  a  fervour  equal  to  that 
of  the  particular  interests  of  their  members,  or  of  the  interests 
of  the  groups  themselves.  Their  speeches  are  burnished  with 
many  fine  metaphors.  Nevertheless,  one  has  to  admit  that 
not  only  ethics  and  philosophy,  but  also  economic  opinion  and 
practice,  are  starting  to  rise  to  this  'social'  level.  The  feeling  is 
that  there  is  no  better  way  of  making  men  work  than  by 
reassuring  them  of  being  paid  loyally  all  their  lives  for  labour 
which  they  give  loyally  not  only  for  their  own  sakes  but  for  that 
of  others.  The  producer-exchanger  feels  now  as  he  has  always 
felt — but  this  time  he  feels  it  more  acutely — that  he  is  giving 
something  of  himself,  his  time  and  his  life.  Thus  he  wants 
recompense,  however  modest,  for  this  gift.  And  to  refuse  him 
this  recompense  is  to  incite  him  to  laziness  and  lower  produc- 
tion. 

We  draw  now  a  conclusion  both  sociological  and  practical. 
The  famous  Sura  LXIV,  'Mutual  Deception',  given  at  Mecca 
to  Mohammed,  says: 

15.  Your  possessions  and  your  children  are  only  a  trial 
and  Allah  it  is  with  whom  is  a  great  reward. 

16.  Therefore  be  careful  [of  your  duty  to]  Allah  as 
much  as  you  can,  and  hear  and  obey  and  spend  {sadaqa), 
it  is  better  for  your  souls;  and  whoever  is  saved  from  the 
greediness  of  his  soul,  these  it  is  that  are  the  successful. 


76  THE    GIFT 

17.  If  you  set  apart  from  Allah  a  goodly  portion,  He 
will  double  it  for  you  and  forgive  you;  and  Allah  is  the 
multiplier  of  rewards,  forbearing. 

18.  The  knower  of  the  unseen  and  the  seen,  the  mighty, 
the  wise. 

Replace  the  name  of  Allah  by  that  of  the  society  or  professional 
group,  or  unite  all  three;  replace  the  concept  of  alms  by  that 
of  co-operation,  of  a  prestation  altruistically  made ;  you  will 
have  a  fair  idea  of  the  practice  which  is  now  coming  into  being. 
It  can  be  seen  at  work  already  in  certain  economic  groups  and 
in  the  hearts  of  the  masses  who  often  enough  know  their  own 
interest  and  the  common  interest  better  than  their  leaders  do. 

3.  Sociological  and  Ethical  Conclusions 

We  may  be  permitted  another  note  about  the  method  we 
have  used.  We  do  not  set  this  work  up  as  a  model;  it  simply 
proffers  one  or  two  suggestions.  It  is  incomplete:  the  analysis 
could  be  pushed  farther.  ^^  We  are  really  posing  questions  for 
historians  and  anthropologists  and  offering  possible  lines  of 
research  for  them  rather  than  resolving  a  problem  and  laying 
down  definite  answers.  It  is  enough  for  us  to  be  sure  for  the 
moment  that  we  have  given  sujfficient  data  for  such  an  end. 
This  being  the  case,  we  would  point  out  that  there  4s  a 

ilieuristic_element.  in  our  manner  of  treatment.  The  facts  we 
have  studied  are  all  'total',  social  phenomena.  The  word 
'general'  may  be  preferred  although  we  like  it  less.  Some  of  the 
facts  presented  concern  the  whole  of  society  and  its  institutions 
(as  with  potlatch,  opposing  clans,  tribes  on  visit,  etc.) ;  others, 
in  which  exchanges  and  contracts  are  the  concern  of  individuals, 
embrace  a  large  number  of  institutions. 

\  These  phenomena  are  at  once  legal,  economic,  religious, 
aesthetic,  morphological  and  so  on.  They  are  legal  in  that  they 
concern  individual  and  collective  rights,  organized  and  diffuse 

I  morality;  they  may  be  entirely  obligatory,  or  subject  simply  to 
praise  or  disapproval.  They  are  at  once  pt5litical  ^nd  domestic, 

I  being  of  interest  both  to  classes  and  to  clans  and  families.  They 


CONCLUSIONS  77 

are  religious;  they  concern  true  religion,  animism,  magic  andl 
diffuse  religious  mentality.  They  are  economic,  for  the  notions'\ 
of  value,  utility,  interest,  luxury,  wealth,  acquisition,  accumula-  j 
tion,  consumption  and  liberal  and  sumptuous  expenditure  are 
all   present,   although   not   perhaps   in   their   modern  senses. 
Moreover,  these  institutions  have  an  important  aesthetic  side; 
which  we  have  left  unstudied;  but  the  dances  performed,  the 
songs  and  shows,  the  dramatic  representations  given  between 
camps  or  partners,  the  objects  made,  used,  decorated,  polished, 
amassed  and  transmitted  with  affection,   received  with  joy, 
given  away  in  triumph,  the  feasts  in  which  everyone  partici- 
pates— all  these,  the  food,  objects  and  services,  are  the  source 
of  aesthetic  emotions  as  well  as  emotions  aroused  by  interest. ^^ 
This  is  true  not  only  of  Melanesia  but  also,  and  particularly, 
of  the  potlatch  of  North- West  America  and  still  more  true  of 
the  market-festival  of  the  Indo-European  world.  Lastly,  our 
phenomena  are  clearly  morphological.  Everything  that  happens 
in  the  course  of  gatherings,  fairs  and  markets  or  in  the  feasts 
that  replace  them,  presupposes  groups  whose  duration  exceeds 
the  season  of  social  concentration,  like  the  winter  potlatch  of 
the  Kwakiutl  or  the  few  weeks  of  the  Melanesian  maritime 
expeditions.  Moreover,  in  order  that  these  meetings  may  be 
carried  out  in  peace,  there  must  be  roads  or  water  for  transport 
and  tribal,  inter-tribal  or  international  alliances — commercium 
and  connubium.^^ 

We  are  dealing_then  with  something  more  than  a  set  of 
themes,  more  than  institutional  elements,  more  than  institjir 
tions,  more  even  th^n  systems  of  institutions  divisible  into  legal, 
economic,  religious  and  other  part^.  We  are  concerned  with 
'wholes',  with  systems  in  their  entirety.  We  have  not  described 
them  as  if  they  were  fixed,  in  a  static  or  skeletal  condition,  and 
still  less  have  we  dissected  them  into  the  rules  and  myths  and 
values  and  so  on  of  which  they  are  composed.  It  is  only  by 
considering  themjis  wholesjthat  we  have  been  able  to  see  their 
essence,  their  operation  and  their  living  aspect,  and  to  catch 
the  fleeting  moment  when  the  society  and  its  members  take 
emotional  stock  of  themselves  and  their  situation  as  regards 


78  THE    GIFT 

Others.  Only  by  making  such  concrete  observation  of  social  life 
is  it  possible  to  come  upon  facts  such  as  those  which  our  study 
is  beginning  to  reveal.  Nothing  in  our  opinion  is  more  urgent 
orjjromising  than  research  into  'total'  social  phenomena. 
- — -The  advantage  is  twofold.  Firstly  there  is  an  advantage  in 
generality,  for  facts  of  widespread  occurrence  are  more  likely 
to~beniriiversal  than  local  institutions  or  themes,  which  are 
invariably  tinged  with  local  colour.  But  particularly  the 
advantage  is  in  realism.  We  see  social  facts  in  the  round,  as 
they  really  are.  In  society  there  are  not  merely  ideas  and  rules, 
but  also  men  and  groups  and  their  behaviours.  We  see  them 
in  motion  as  an  engineer  sees  masses  and  systems,  or  as  we 
observe  octopuses  and  anemones  in  the  sea.  We  see  groups  of 
men,  and  active  forces,  submerged  in  their  environments  and 
sentiments. 

Historians  believe  and  justly  resent  the  fact  that  sociologists 
make  too  many  abstractions  and  separate  unduly  the  various 
elements  of  society.  We  should  follow  their  precepts  and 
observe  what  is  given.  The  tangible  fact  is  Rome  or  Athens  or 
the  average  Frenchman  or  the  Melanesian  of  some  island,  and 
not  prayer  or  law  as  such.  Whereas  formerly  sociologists  were 
obliged  to  analyse  and  abstract  rather  too  much,  they  should 
now  force  themselves  to  reconstitute  the  whole.  This  is  the  way 
to  reach  incontestable  Tacts.  They  will  also  find  a  way  of  satis- 
fying psychologists  who  have  a  pronounced  viewpoint,  and 
particularly  psycho-pathologists,  since  there  is  no  doubt  that  the 
object  of  their  study  is  concrete.  They  all  observe,  or  at  least 
ought  to,  minds  as  wholes  and  not  minds  divided  into  faculties. 
We  should  follow  suit.. The  study  of  the  concretCj  which  is  the- 
study  of  the  whole,  is  made  more  readily,  is  more  interesting 
and  furnishes  more  explanations  in  the  sphere  of  sociology  than 
the  study  of  the  abstract.  For  we  observe  complete  and  complex 
beings.  We  too  describe  them  in  their  organisms  and  psychai  as 
well  as  in  their  behaviour  as  groups,  with  the  attendant  psy- 
choses: sentiments,  ideas  and  desires  of  the  crowd,  of  organized 
societies  and  their  sub-groups.  We  see  bodies  and  their  reac- 
tions, and  their  ideas  and  sentiments  as  interpretations  or  as 


CONCLUSIONS  79 

motive  forces.  The  aim  and  principle  of  sociology  is  to  observe 
and  understand  the  whole  group  in  its  total  behaviour. 

It  is  not  possible  here — it  would  have  meant  extending  a 
restricted  study  unduly — to  seek  the  morphological  implica- 
tions of  our  facts.  It  may  be  worth  while,  however,  to  indicate 
the  method  one  might  follow  in  such  a  piece  of  research. 

All  the  societies  we  have  described  above  with  the  exception 
of  our  European  societies  are  segmentary.  Even  the  Indo- 
Europeans,  the  Romans  before  the  Twelve  Tables,  the  Ger- 
manic societies  up  to  the  Edda,  and  Irish  society  to  the  time  of 
its  chief  literature,  were  still  societies  based  on  the  clan  or  on 
great  families  more  or  less  undivided  internally  and  isolated 
from  each  other  externally.  All  these  were  far  removed  from 
the  degree  of  unification  with  which  historians  have  credited 
them  or  which  is  ours  today.  Within  these  groups  the  indivi- 
duals, even  the  most  influential,  were  less  serious,  avaricious 
and  selfish  than  we  are;  externally  at  least  they"vvere^nd  are 
generous  and  more  ready  to  give.  In  tribal  feasts,  in  ceremonies 
of  rival  clans,  allied  famihes  or  those  that  assist  at  each  other's 
initiation,  groups  visit  each  other;  and  with  the  development 
of  the  law  of  hospitality  in  more  advanced  societies,  the  rules 
of  friendship  and  the  contract  are  present — along  with  the 
gods — to  ensure  the  peace  of  markets  and  villages;  at  these 
times  men  meet  in  a  curious  frame  of  mind  with  exaggerated 
fear  and  an  equally  exaggerated  generosity  which  appear 
stupid  in  no  one's  eyes  but  our  own.  lln  these  primitive  and 
archaic  societies  there  is  no  middle  path.  There  is  either  com- 
plete"Tfust  or  mistrust./  One  lays  down  one's  arms,  renounces 
magic  and  gives  everything  away,  from  casual  hospitality  to 
one's  daughter  or  one's  property.  It  is  in  such  conditions  that 
men,  despite  themselves,  learnt  to  renounce  what  was  theirs 
and  made  contracts  to  give  and  repay. 

But  then  they  had  no  choice  in  the  matter.  When  two 
groups  of  men  meet  they  may  move  away  or  in  case  of  mistrust 
or  defiance  they  may  resort  to  arms;  or  else  they  can  come  to 
terms.  Business  has  always  been  done  with  foreigners,  although 
these  might  have  been  allies.  The  people  of  Kiriwina  said  to 


8o  THE    GIFT 

Malinowski:  'The  Dobu  man  is  not  good  as  we  are.  He  is 
fierce,  he  is  a  man-eater.  When  we  come  to  Dobu,  we  fear  him, 
he  might  kill  us!  But  see!  I  spit  the  charmed  ginger  root  and 
their  mind  turns.  They  lay  down  their  spears,  they  receive  us 
well.'^'  Nothing  better  expresses  how  close  together  lie  festival 
and  warfare. 

Thurnwald  describes  with  reference  to  another  Melanesian 
tribe,  with  genealogical  material,  an  actual  event  which  shows 
just  as  clearly  how  these  people  pass  in  a  group  quite  suddenly 
from  a  feast  to  a  battle.^^  Buleau,  a  chief,  had  invited  Bobal, 
another  chief,  and  his  people  to  a  feast  which  was  probably  to 
be  the  first  of  a  long  series.  Dances  were  performed  all  night 
long.  By  morning  everyone  was  excited  by  the  sleepless  night 
of  song  and  dance.  On  a  remark  made  by  Buleau  one  of  Bobal's 
men  killed  him;  and  the  troop  of  men  massacred  and  pillaged 
and  ran  off  with  the  women  of  the  village.  'Buleau  and  Bobal 
were  more  friends  than  rivals'  they  said  to  Thurnwald.  We  all 
have  experience  of  events  like  this. 

It  is  by  opposing  reason  to  emotion  and  setting  up  the  will 
for  peace  against  rash  follies  of  this  kind  that  peoples  succeed 
in  substituting  alliance,  gift  and  commerce  for  war,  isolation 
and  stagnation. 

The  research  proposed  would  have  some  conclusion  of  this 
kind.  Socigties  ha^^-pregressed  in-thejneasure  in  which  they, 
their  sub-groups  and  their  members,  have  been  able  to  stabilize 
:their  contracts  and  to  give,  receive  and  repay.  In  order  to 
trade,  man  must^fir^  lay  down  his  spear.  When  that  is  done 
he  can  succeed  in  exchanging  goods  and  persons  not  only 
between  clan  and  clan  but  between  tribe  and  tribe  and  nation 
and  nation,  and  above  all  between  individuals.  It  is  only  then 
that  people  can  create,  can  satisfy  their  interests  mutually  and 
define  them  without  recourse  to  arms.  It  is  in  this  way  that  the 
clan,  the  tribe  and  nation  have  learnt — just  as  in  the  future  the 
classes  and  nations  and  individuals  will  learn — how  to  oppose 
one  another  without  slaughter  and  to  give  without  sacrificing 
themselves  to  others.  That  is  one  of  the  secrets  of  their  wisdom 
and  solidarity. 


CONCLUSIONS  8l 

There  is  no  other  course  feasible.  The  Chronicles  of  Arthur  ^^ 
relate  how  King  Arthur,  with  the  help  of  a  Cornish  carpenter, 
invented  the  marvel  of  his  court,  the  miraculous  Round  Table 
at  which  his  knights  would  never  come  to  blows.  Formerly 
because  of  jealousy,  skirmishes,  duels  and  murders  had  set 
blood  flowing  in  the  most  sumptuous  of  feasts.  The  carpenter 
says  to  Arthur:  T  will  make  thee  a  fine  table,  where  sixteen 
hundred  may  sit  at  once,  and  from  which  none  need  be 
excluded.  .  .  .  And  no  knight  will  be  able  to  raise  combat,  for 
there  the  highly  placed  will  be  on  the  same  level  as  the  lowly.' 
There  was  no  'head  of  the  table'  and  hence  no  more  quarrels. 
Wherever  Arthur  took  his  table,  contented  and  invincible 
remained  his  noble  company.  And  this  today  is  the  way  of  the 
nations  that  are  strong,  rich,  good  and  happy.  Peoples,  classes, 
families  and  individuals  may  become  rich,  but  they  will  not 
achieve  happiness  until  they  can  sit  down  like  the  knights 
around  their  common  riches.  There  is  no  need  to  seek  far  for 
goodness  and  happiness.  It  is  to  be  found  in  the  imposed  peace, 
in  the  rhythm  of  communal  and  private  labour,  in  wealth 
amassed  and  redistributed,  in  the  mutual  respect  and  reciprocal 
generosity  that  education  can  impart. 

Thus  we  see  how  it  is  possible  under  certain  circumstances 
to  study  total  human  behaviour;  and  how  that  concrete  study 
leads  not  only  to  a  science  of  manners,  a  partial  social  science, 
but  even  to  ethical  conclusions — 'civility',  or  'civics'  as  we  say 
today.  Through  studies  of  this  sort  we  can  find,  measure  and 
assess  the  various  determinants,  aesthetic,  moral,  religious  and 
economic,  and  the  material  and  demographic  factors,  whose 
sum  is  the  basis  of  society  and  constitutes  the  common  life,  and 
whose  conscious  direction  is  the  supreme  art — politics  in  the 
Socratic  sense  of  the  word. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  ABBREVIATIONS 

USED    IN   THE    NOTES 

5th,  yth,  gth  or  12th  Report:  Boas,  'Reports  on  the  Tribes  of  N.W.  Canada' 

in  British  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Science,  189 1-8. 
nth  Census:  'Report  on  the  Population,  etc.,  of  Alaska'  in  Eleventh  Alaskan 

Census,  1900. 
19  Tears:  Turner,  Nineteen  Tears  in  Polynesia. 
A.M.N.H. :  Report  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History. 
Andamans:  A.  R.  Brown  (A.  R.  Radcliffe-Brown),  The  Andaman  Islanders. 
Anuc.:  Anucasanaparvan,  Book  XIII  of  the  Mahabharata. 
A.R.B.A.E.:  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology. 
Argonauts:  Malinowski,  Argonauts  of  the  Western  Pacific. 
A.S. :  L'Annee  Sociologique. 
B.A.E.:  The  Bureau  of  American  Ethnology. 

Chukchee:  Bogoras,  'The  Chukchee'  in  Jesup  North  Pacific  Expedition,  VII. 
Eth.   Kwa. :   Boas,   'Ethnology  of  the  Kwakiutl',   in  Annual  Report  of  the 

Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  XXXV. 
Foi  Juree:  Davy,  'Foi  Juree'  in  Travaux  de  V Annie  Sociologique,  1922. 
Forschungen :  Thurnwald,  Forschungen  auf  den  Salomo  Inseln. 
Haida :  Swanton,  'The  Haida'  in  Jesup  North  Pacific  Expedition,  V. 
Haida  Texts:  Swanton,  'Haida  Texts'  in  do.,  VI  and  X. 
Haida   T.  and  M. :  Swanton,  'Haida  Texts  and  Myths'  in  Bulletin  of  the 

Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  no.  29. 
H.M.S.:  Rivers,  History  of  the  Melanesian  Society. 
J.N.P.E. :  Jesup  North  Pacific  Expedition. 
J.P.S. :  Journal  of  the  Polynesian  Society. 
J. R.A.I. :  Journal  of  the  Royal  Anthropological  Institute. 
Koopen :  Kruyt,  'Koopen  in  Midden  Celebes'  in  Meded.  der  Konink.  Akademie 

V.  Wet.,  Afd.  Letterk.,  56,  series  B. 
Koryak :  Jochelsen,  'The  Koryak'  in  Jesup  North  Pacific  Expedition,  VI. 
Kwakiutl:  Boas,  'The  Kwakiutl  Indians'  in  do.,  V. 
Kwa.  T.  I:  Boas,  'Kwakiutl  Texts',  First  Series,  in  do..  III. 
Kwa.  T.  II:  Boas,  'Kwakiutl  Texts',  Second  Series,  in  do.,  X. 
Magie  et  Droit:  Huvelin,  'Magie  et  Droit  Individuels'in  Annie  Sociologique, "ii.. 
Manuel:  Giraud,  Manuel  Elementaire  de  Droit  Romain,  7th  edn. 
M.C.D. :  Tregear,  Maori  Comparative  Dictionary. 
Melanesians :  Seligman,  The  Melanesians  of  British  New  Guinea. 
Prim.  Ec:  Malinowski,  'Primitive  Economics'  in  Economic  Journal,  March 

1921. 
Sec.  Soc. :  Boas,  'Secret  Societies  and  Social  Organization  of  the  Kwakiutl 

Indians'  in  Report  of  the  American  Museum  of  Natural  History,  1895. 
Textes :  Giraud,  Textes  de  Droit  Romain. 
Tlingit:  Swanton,  'The  Tlingit  Indians'  in  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau  of 

American  Ethnology,  XXVI. 

82 


NOTES  83 

Tlingit  T.  and  M. :  Swanton,  'Tlingit  Texts  and  Myths'  in  Bulletin  of  the 

Bureau  of  American  Ethnology,  no.  39. 
T.N.Z-I-:  Transactions  of  the  New  Zealand  Institute. 
Tsim.  Myth. :  Boas,  'Tsimshian  Mythology'  in  Annual  Report  of  the  Bureau 

of  American  Ethnology,  XXXI. 
Walde:  Walde,  Lateinisches  Etymologisches  Wdrterbuch. 

Introductory 

^  Cassel  in  his  Theory  of  Social  Economy,  Vol.  II,  p.  345,  mentions  this  text. 

*  I  have  been  unable  to  consult  Burckhard,  Z^m  Begriff  der  Schenkung, 
pp.  53  ff.  But  for  Anglo-Saxon  law  our  immediate  point  has  been  noted 
by  Pollock  and  Maitland,  History  of  English  Law,  Vol.  II,  p.  82:  'The  wide 
word  "gift"  .  .  .  will  cover  sale,  exchange,  gage  and  lease.'  Cf.  pp.  12, 
212-14:  'Perhaps  we  may  doubt  whether  ...  a  purely  gratuitous  promise 
.  .  .  would  have  been  enforced.'  See  also  the  essay  by  Neubecker  on  the 
Germanic  dowry.  Die  Mitgift,  1909,  pp.  65  ff. 

'  'Foi  Juree' ;  see  bibliography  in  Mauss,  'Une  Forme  archaique  de 
Contrat  chez  les  Thraces'  in  Revue  des  Etudes  Grecques,  1921;  R.  Lenoir, 
'L'Institution  du  Potlatch'  in  Revue  Philosophique,  1924. 

*  M.  F.  Samlo,  Der  GUterverkehr  in  der  Urgesellschaft,  Institut  Solvay , 
1909,  has  some  sound  discussion  on  this,  and  on  p.  156  suggests  that  he  is 
on  the  lines  of  our  own  argument. 

*  Grierson,  Silent  Trade,  1903,  argued  conclusively  against  this  view. 
See  also  Von  Moszkowski,  Wirtschaftsleben  der  primitiven  Volker,  191 1; 
although  he  considers  theft  to  be  primitive  and  confuses  it  with  the  right 
to  take.  A  good  exposition  of  Maori  data  is  to  be  found  in  W.  von  Brun, 
'Wirtschaftsorganisation  der  Maori'  in  Beitrdgungen  Lamprecht,  18,  19 12, 
in  which  a  chapter  is  devoted  to  exchange.  The  most  recent  comprehensive 
work  on  so-called  primitive  economics  is  Koppers,  'Ethnologische  Wirt- 
schaftsordnung',  in  Anthropos,  1915-16,  pp.  611-51  and  971-1079;  strong 
on  presentation  of  material  but  for  the  rest  rather  hair-splitting. 

*  We  wrote  recently  that  in  Australia,  especially  on  a  death,  there  is 
the  beginning  of  exchange  on  a  tribal  basis,  and  not  merely  amongst  clans 
and  phratries.  Among  the  Kakadu  of  the  Northern  Territory  there  are 
three  mortuary  ceremonies.  During  the  third  the  men  have  a  kind  of  inquest 
to  find  out  who  is  the  sorcerer  responsible  for  the  death.  Contrary  to  normal 
Australian  custom  no  feud  follows.  The  men  simply  gather  with  their  spears 
and  state  what  they  require  in  exchange.  Next  day  the  spears  are  taken  to 
another  tribe,  e.g.  the  Umoriu,  who  reaUze  the  reason  for  the  visit.  The 
spears  are  piled  and  in  accordance  with  a  known  scale  the  required  objects 
are  set  before  them.  Then  the  Kakadu  take  them  away  (Baldwin  Spencer, 
Tribes  of  the  Northern  Territories,  19 14,  p.  247).  Spencer  then  states  that  the 
objects  can  then  be  exchanged  for  spears,  a  fact  we  do  not  fully  understand. 
But  he  fails  to  see  the  connection  between  the  mortuary  ceremony  and  the 
exchange  of  gifts,  adding  that  the  natives  themselves  do  not  see  it.  But  the 
custom  is  easy  enough  to  understand.  It  is  a  pact  which  takes  the  place  of 
a  feud,  and  which  sets  up  an  inter-tribal  market.  The  exchange  of  objects 

7 


84  THE    GIFT  INTRO. 

is  simultaneously  an  exchange  of  peace  pledges  and  of  sentiments  of 
solidarity  in  mourning.  In  Australia  this  is  normally  seen  only  between  clans 
and  families  which  are  in  some  way  associated  or  related  by  marriage.  The 
only  difference  here  is  that  the  custom  is  extended  to  the  tribal  basis. 

^  A  poet  as  late  as  Pindar  could  say  veavla  yafi^pw  TTpoirivoiv  oiKodev 
ot/caSe,  Olympiads,  VIII,  4.  The  whole  passage  still  reflects  the  kind  of 
situation  we  are  describing.  The  themes  of  the  gift,  of  wealth,  marriage, 
honour,  favour,  alliance,  of  shared  food  and  drink,  and  the  theme  of 
jealousy  in  marriage  are  all  clearly  represented. 

•  See  specially  the  remarkable  rules  of  the  ball  game  among  the  Omaha : 
Fletcher  and  la  Flesche,  'Omaha  Tribe'  in  A.R.B.A.E.,  1905-6,  pp.  197 
and  366. 

*  Krause,  Tlingit  Indianer,  pp.  234  ff.,  notes  the  character  of  the  festivals 
and  rituals  although  he  did  not  call  them  'potlatch'.  Boursin  in  Eleventh 
Census,  pp.  54-66,  and  Porter,  ibid.  p.  33,  saw  and  named  the  reciprocal 
glorification  in  the  potlatch.  Swanton,  however,  has  the  best  commentary, 
in  'Social  Conditions  ...  of  the  Tlingit  Indians'  in  A.R.B.A.E.,  XXVI, 
345,  Cf.  our  notes  in  A.S.,  XI,  207  and  in  Foi  Jurie,  p.  172. 

1"  On  the  meaning  of  the  word  potlatch,  see  Barbeau,  Bulletin  de  la 
Societe  de  Geographie  de  Quibec,  191 1,  and  Foi  Jurie,  p.  162.  It  seems  to  us, 
however,  that  Davy  does  not  take  into  account  the  original  meaning  of 
the  word.  Boas,  admittedly  for  the  Kwakiutl  and  not  the  Chinook,  uses  the 
word  'feeder',  although  the  literal  meaning  is  'Place  of  getting  Satiated' 
— Kwa.  T.,  II,  p.  43;  cf.  Kwa.  T.,  I,  pp.  255,  517.  But  the  two  meanings 
suggested,  gift  and  food,  are  not  exclusive  since  the  usual  content  of  the 
gift,  here  at  any  rate,  is  food. 

11  The  legal  aspect  of  potlatch  has  been  discussed  by  Adam  in  his 
articles  in  the  Z^itschrift  fur  vergleichende  Rechtswissenschaft  starting  191 1,  and 
in  the  Festschrift  to  Seler,  1920,  and  by  Davy  in  Foi  Jurie.  The  economic 
and  ritual  aspects  are  no  less  important  and  merit  the  same  detailed  study. 
The  religious  nature  of  the  people  involved  and  of  the  objects  exchanged  or 
destroyed  have  a  bearing  on  the  nature  of  the  contracts,  as  have  the  values 
attributed  to  them. 

"  The  Haida  call  it  'killing  wealth'. 

i«  See  Hunt's  documents  in  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  1340,  where  there  is  an 
interesting  description  of  the  way  the  clan  brings  its  potlatch  contributions 
to  the  chief,  and  a  record  of  some  of  the  discourses.  The  chief  says:  'It 
will  not  be  in  my  name.  It  will  be  in  your  name,  and  you  will  become  famous 
among  the  tribes,  when  it  is  said  that  you  have  given  your  property  for  a 
potlatch'  (p.  1342). 

1*  The  potlatch  is  not  confined  to  the  tribes  of  the  North- West.  We 
consider  also  the  'Asking  Festival'  of  the  Alaskan  Eskimo  as  something  more 
than  a  mere  borrowing  from  neighbouring  Indian  tribes. 

"  See  our  observations  in  A.S.,  XI,  loi  and  XIII,  372-4,  and  Anthro- 
pologie,  1920.  Lenoir  notes  two  clear  potlatch  traits  in  South  America, 
'Expeditions  Maritimes  en  Melane'sie'  in  Anthropologic,  Sept.  1924. 

"  Thurnwald,  in  Forschungen,  Vol.  Ill,  19 12,  p.  8,  uses  this  word. 

^'  Revue  des  Etudes  Grecques,  XXXIV,  1921. 


CH.    I  NOTES  85 

Chapter  I 

1  Davy,  in  Foi  Jurie,  p.  140,  studies  these  exchanges  with  reference  to 
the  marriage  contract.  Here  we  point  out  further  impUcations. 

*  19  Years,  p.  178;  Samoa,  pp.  82  ff. ;  Stair,  Old  Samoa,  p.  75. 
8  Kramer,  Samoa-Inseln,  Vol.  II,  pp.  52-63. 

*  Stair,  Old  Samoa,  p.  180;  Turner,  19  Tears,  p.  225;  Samoa,  p.  91. 
'Turner,  19  Tears,  p.  184;  Samoa,  p.  91. 

*  Kramer,  Samoa-Inseln,  Vol.  II,  p.  105;  Turner,  Samoa,  p.  146. 

'  Kramer,  ibid.,  pp.  96,  313.  The  malaga  trading  expedition  (cf.  the 
walaga  of  New  Guinea)  is  very  like  the  potlatch  and  characteristic  of  the 
neighbouring  Melanesian  archipelago.  Kramer  uses  the  word  Gegenschenk 
for  the  exchange  of  oloa  and  tonga  which  we  shall  discuss.  We  do  not  intend 
to  follow  the  exaggerations  of  the  English  school  of  Rivers  and  Elliot  Smith 
or  those  of  the  Americans  who,  after  Boas,  see  the  whole  American  potlatch 
as  a  series  of  borrowings,  but  still  we  grant  that  an  important  part  is  played 
by  the  spreading  of  institutions.  It  is  specially  important  in  this  area  where 
trading  expeditions  go  great  distances  between  islands  and  have  done  from 
early  times;  there  must  have  been  transmitted  not  only  the  articles  of 
merchandise  but  also  methods  of  exchange.  Malinow^ki,  whom  we  quote 
later,  recognizes  this.  See  Lenoir,  'Expeditions  mari times  en  Melanesie' 
in  Anthropologie,  1924. 

*  Rivalry  among  Maori  clans  is  often  mentioned,  particularly  with 
regard  to  festivals,  e.g.  by  S.  P.  Smith,  J.P.S.  XV,  87. 

•  This  is  not  properly  potlatch  because  the  counter-prestation  lacks  the 
element  of  usury.  But  as  we  shall  see  with  the  Maori  the  fact  that  no  return 
is  made  implies  the  loss  of  mana,  or  of  'face'  as  the  Chinese  say ;  the  same 
is  true  for  Samoa. 

*"  Turner,  19  Tears,  p.  178;  Samoa,  p.  52.  The  theme  of  honour  through 
ruin  is  fundamental  to  North-West  American  potlatch. 

^1  Turner,  19  Tears,  p.  1 78;  Samoa,  p.  83,  says  the  young  man  is  'adopted'. 
This  is  wrong;  it  is  fosterage.  Education  is  outside  his  own  family  certainly, 
but  in  fact  it  marks  a  return  to  his  uterine  family  (the  father's  sister  is  the 
spouse  of  the  mother's  brother).  In  Polynesia  both  maternal  and  paternal 
relatives  are  classificatory.  See  our  review  of  E.  Best,  Maori  Nomenclature 
in  A.S.,  VII,  420  and  Durkheim's  remarks  in  V,  37. 

"  19  Tears,  p.  179;  Samoa,  p.  83. 

"  See  our  remarks  on  the  Fiji  vasu  in  'Proc^  verbal  de  I'l.F.A.',  Anthro- 
pologie, 1 92 1. 

^*  Kramer,  Samoa-Inseln,  Vol.  I,  p.  482;  Vol.  II,  p.  90. 

1*  Ibid.,  Vol.  II,  p.  296.  Cf.  p.  90  [toga  equals  Mitgift) ;  p.  94  exchanges 
of  oloa  and  toga. 

^*  Ibid.,  Vol.  I,  p.  477.  Violette,  Dictionnaire  Samoan-Frangais,  defines  toga 
as  'native  valuables  consisting  of  fine  mats,  and  oloa  valuables  such  as 
houses,  cloth,  boats,  guns';  and  he  refers  back  to  oa,  valuables  in  general. 

"  ig  Tears,  p.  179;  cf.  p.  186;  M.C.D.,  p.  468  under  taonga  confuses  this 
with  oloa. 


86  THE    GIFT  CH.  1 

The  Rev.  Ella,  'Polynesian  Native  Clothing',  in  J.P.S.,  VIII,  165, 
describes  the  ie  tonga  (mats);  they  were  'the  chief  wealth  of  the  natives; 
indeed  at  one  time  were  used  as  a  medium  of  currency  in  payment  for 
work,  etc.,  also  for  barter,  interchange  of  property,  at  marriage  and  other 
special  occasions  of  courtesy.  They  are  often  retained  in  families  as  heir- 
looms, and  many  old  ie  are  well  known  and  more  highly  valued  as  having 
belonged  to  some  celebrated  family.'  Cf  Turner,  Samoa,  p.  120.  We  shall 
see  that  these  expressions  have  their  equivalents  in  Melanesia,  in  North 
America  and  in  our  own  folklore. 

"  Kramer,  Samoa-Inseln,  Vol.  II,  pp.  90,  93. 

*•  See  M.C.D.  under  taonga:  (Tahitian)  tataoa,  to  give  property,  yflateoa, 
to  compensate;  (Marquesan)  Lesson,  Polynesiens,  Vol.  II,  p.  232,  taetae; 
tiau  tae-tae,  presents  given,  'local  produce  given  in  exchange  for  foreign 
goods'.  Radiguet,  Derniers  Sauvages,  p.  157.  The  root  of  the  word  is  tahu,  etc. 

*"  See  Mauss,  'Origines  de  la  Notion  de  la  Monnaie'  in  Anthropologic, 
19 14,  where  most  of  the  facts  quoted,  except  for  Negrito  and  American 
material,  belong  to  this  domain. 

*^  Proverbs,  p.  103. 

^^  Maori  Momentoes,  p.  21. 

*'  In  Transactions  of  the  New  Zealand  Institute,  I,  354. 

**  New  Zealand  tribes  are  divided  in  theory  by  the  Maori  themselves 
into  fishermen,  agriculturalists  and  hunters,  who  are  supposed  to  exchange 
their  produce.  Cf.  Best,  'Forest-Lore',  in  7".JV.^./.,  XLII,  435. 

"'  Ibid.,  p.  431;  translation,  p.  439. 

**  The  word  hau,  like  the  Latin  spiritus,  means  both  wind  and  soul.  More 
precisely  hau  is  the  spirit  and  power  of  inanimate  and  vegetable  things. 
The  word  mana  is  reserved  for  men  and  spirits  and  is  not  applied  to  things 
as  much  as  in  Melanesian  languages. 

"  Utu  means  satisfaction  in  blood  vengeance. 

^*  He  hau.  These  sentences  were  all  abridged  by  Best. 

'•  Many  facts  illustrating  this  point  were  collected  by  R.  Hertz  in  his 
Pechi  et  V Expiation.  They  show  that  the  sanction  against  theft  is  the  mystical 
effect  of  the  mana  of  the  object  stolen;  moreover,  the  object  is  surrounded 
by  taboos  and  marked  by  its  owner,  and  has  hau,  spiritual  power,  as  a 
result.  This  hau  avenges  theft,  controls  the  thief,  bewitches  him  and  leads 
him  to  death  or  constrains  him  to  restore  the  object. 

*'  In  Hertz  will  be  found  material  on  the  mauri  to  which  we  allude  here. 
Mauri  are  talismans,  safeguards  and  sanctuaries  where  the  clan  soul  (hapu) 
dwells  with  its  mana  and  the  hau  of  its  land. 

Best's  documents  require  more  comment  than  we  can  give  here, 
especially  those  concerned  with  hau  whitia  and  kai  hau.  See  especially 
'Spiritual  Concepts'  in  J.P.S.,  X,  10  (Maori  text),  and  IX,  198.  Best 
translates  hau  whitia  well  as  'averted  hau\  The  sins  of  theft,  of  non-repay- 
ment, of  non-counter-prestation  are  a  'turning  aside'  of  the  spirit  {hau)  as 
in  the  case  of  a  refusal  to  make  an  exchange  or  give  a  present.  Kai  hau  is 
badly  translated  as  the  equivalent  of  hau  whitia.  It  implies  the  act  of  eating 
the  soul,  and  may  well  be  synonymous  with  whangai  hau  (cf.  Tregear, 


CH.  I  NOTES  87 

M.C.D.,  under  kai  and  whangai).  But  kai  refers  to  food  and  the  word  alludes 
to  the  sharing  of  food  and  the  fault  of  remaining  in  debt  over  it.  Further, 
the  word  hau  itself  also  belongs  to  the  realm  of  ideas.  Williams,  Maori 
Dictionary,  p.  47,  says  ^hau,  return  present  by  way  of  acknowledgement  for 
a  present  received'. 

31  We  draw  attention  to  the  expression  kai-hau-kai,  M.C.D.,  p.  116:  'The 
return  present  of  food,  etc.,  made  by  one  tribe  to  another.  A  feast  (in  the 
South).'  This  signifies  that  the  return  gift  is  really  the  'spirit'  of  the  original 
prestation  returning  to  its  point  of  departure ;  'food  that  is  the  hau  of  other 
food.'  European  vocabularies  have  not  the  ability  to  describe  the  complexity 
of  these  ideas. 

**  The  taonga  seem  to  have  an  individuality  beyond  that  of  the  hau, 
which  derives  from  their  relationship  with  their  owner.  They  bear  names. 
According  to  the  best  authorities  (M.C.D.  under  pounamu,  from  the  manu- 
script of  Colenso)  they  comprise:  the  pounamu,  jades  that  are  the  sacred 
property  of  the  clan  chiefs;  the  rare,  sculptured  tiki;  various  kinds  of  mats 
of  which  one  is  called  koruwai  (the  only  Maori  word  recalling  the  Samoan 
oloa,  although  we  have  sought  for  an  equivalent).  A  Maori  document  gives 
the  name  taonga  to  the  karakia,  individual  heritable  magic  spells.  J.P.S., 
IX,  126,  133. 

"  E.  Best,  'Forest  Lore',  in  T.N-Z-U  XLII,  449. 

'*  We  should  really  discuss  here  the  ideas  implied  in  the  interesting 
Maori  expression  'to  despise  tahu\  The  main  document  is  Best,  'Maori 
Mythology',  xaJ.F.S.,  IX,  1 13.  Tahu  is  a  symbolic  name  for  food  in  general, 
its  personification.  'Do  not  despise  tahiC  is  the  injunction  to  a  person  who 
refuses  a  gift  of  food.  It  would  take  much  space  to  study  Maori  food  beliefs 
so  we  simply  point  out  that  this  personification  of  food  is  identical  with 
Rongo,  the  god  of  plants  and  of  peace.  The  association  of  ideas  becomes 
clearer:  hospitality,  food,  communion,  peace,  exchange,  law. 

"  See  Best,  'Spiritual  Concepts'  in  J.P.S.,  IX,  198. 

•*  See  Hardeland,  Dayak  Worterhuch  under  indjok,  irek,  pahuni.  The 
comparative  study  of  these  institutions  could  be  extended  to  cover  the 
whole  of  Malayan,  Indonesian  and  Polynesian  civilization.  The  only 
difficulty  is  in  recognizing  the  institution.  For  instance,  it  is  under  the  name 
of  'compulsory  trade'  that  Spencer  St.  John  describes  the  way  in  which 
(in  Brunei)  the  aristocrats  seek  tribute  from  the  Bisayas  by  first  giving  them 
a  present  of  cloth  to  be  repaid  with  high  interest  over  a  number  of  years 
{Life  in  the  Forests  of  the  Far  East,  Vol.  II).  The  error  arises  from  the  custom 
of  civilized  Malayans  of  borrowing  cultural  traits  from  their  less  civilized 
brothers  without  understanding  them.  We  do  not  enumerate  all  the 
Indonesian  data  on  this  point. 

"  Not  to  invite  one  to  a  war  dance  is  a  sin,  a  fault  which,  in  the  South 
Island,  is  called  puha.  H.  T.  de  Croisilles,  'Short  Traditions  of  the  South 
Island'  isxJ.P.S.,  X,  76.  (Note  tahua  means  a  gift  of  food.) 

Maori  ritual  of  hospitality  comprises:  an  obligatory  invitation  that 
should  not  be  refused  or  solicited;  the  guest  must  approach  the  reception 
house  looking  straight  ahead;  his  host  should  have  a  meal  ready  for  him 
straight  away  and  himself  partake  of  it  humbly;  on  leaving,  the  guest 


88  THE    GIFT  CH.  I 

receives  a  parting  gift  (Tregear,  The  Maori  Race,  p.  29).  See  later,  identical 
rites  in  Hindu  hospitality. 

In  fact  the  two  rules  are  closely  connected  like  the  gifts  they  prescribe. 
Taylor,  Te  ika  a  mani,  p.  132,  no.  60,  translates  a  proverb  expressing  this: 
'When  raw  it  is  seen,  when  cooked  it  is  taken'  (it  is  better  to  eat  half-cooked 
food  and  to  wait  until  strangers  arrive  than  to  have  it  cooked  and  be 
obliged  to  share  it  with  them). 

Chief  Hekemaru,  according  to  legend,  refused  food  unless  he  had  been 
seen  and  received  by  the  village  he  was  visiting.  If  his  procession  passed 
through  unnoticed  and  then  messengers  arrived  begging  him  to  return 
and  take  food,  he  replied  that  'food  would  not  follow  his  back'.  He  meant 
that  food  offered  to  the  'sacred  back  of  his  head'  would  endanger  those 
who  gave  it.  Hence  the  proverb:  'Food  will  not  follow  at  the  back  of 
Hekemaru'  (Tregear,  The  Maori  Race,  p.  79). 

'*  Among  the  tribe  of  Tuhoe  Best  ('Maori  Mythology'  in  J.P.S.,  VIII, 
113)  saw  these  principles:  When  a  famous  chief  is  to  visit  a  district,  his 
mana  precedes  him.  The  people  hunt  and  fish  for  good  food.  They  get 
nothing.  'That  is  because  our  mana  has  preceded  us  and  driven  all  the  food 
(fish  and  birds)  afar  off  that  they  may  not  be  visible  to  the  people.  Our 
mana  has  banished  them.'  (There  follows  an  explanation  of  snow  in  terms 
of  whai  riri — a  sin  against  water — which  keeps  food  away  from  men.)  This 
rather  difficult  passage  describes  the  condition  of  the  land  as  the  result  of 
a  hapu  of  hunters  who  had  failed  to  make  preparations  to  receive  the  chief 
of  another  clan.  They  would  have  committed  kaipapa,  a  '  sin  against  food', 
and  thus  destroyed  their  cultivations,  hunting  grounds  and  fisheries — their 
entire  sources  of  food. 

*»  E.g.  Arunta,  Unmatjera,  Kaitish;  Spencer  and  Gillen,  Northern 
Tribes  of  Central  Australia,  p.  610. 

*"  On  vasu  see  especially  Williams,  Fiji  and  the  Fijians,  1858,  Vol.  I, 
p.  34,  and  cf.  Steinmetz,  Entwickelung  fUr  die  Strafe,  Vol.  II,  pp.  241  ff. 
The  right  of  the  sister's  son  is  only  analogous  to  family  communism.  There 
are  other  rights  present,  the  right  of  in-laws  and  what  may  be  called 
'permitted  theft'. 

*i  See  Chukchee.  Obligation  to  give,  receive  and  return  gifts  and  hos- 
pitality is  more  marked  with  the  Maritime  than  the  Reindeer  Chukchee. 
See  'Social  Organization',  J.N.P.E.,  VII,  634,  637.  Cf.  rules  for  sacrificing 
and  slaughtering  reindeer.  'Religion',  ibid.,  II,  375;  the  duty  of  inviting, 
the  right  of  the  guest  to  demand  what  he  wants  and  his  obligation  to  give 
a  present. 

**  The  obligation  to  give  is  a  marked  Eskimo  characteristic.  See  our 
'Variations  saisonni^res  des  Societes  Eskimos'  in  A.S.,  IX,  121.  A  recent 
work  on  the  Eskimo  gives  other  tales  which  impart  generosity:  Hawkes, 
'The  Labrador  Eskimo'  in  Canadian  Geological  Survey,  Anthropological  Series, 

P-  159- 

In  'Variations  saisonni&res'  we  considered  Alaskan  Eskimo  feasts  as  a 
combination  of  Eskimo  elements  and  potlatch  borrowings.  But  since 
writing  that  we  have  found  the  true  potlatch  as  well  as  gift  customs  described 
for  the  Chukchee  and  Koryak  in  Siberia,  so  the  Eskimo  might  have  bor- 


CH.  I  NOTES  89 

rowed  from  them.  Also  the  plausible  theory  of  Sauvageot  ('Journal  des 
Americanistes',  1924)  on  the  Asiatic  origin  of  Eskimo  languages  should 
be  taken  into  account.  This  theory  confirms  the  archaeological  and  anthro- 
pological theories  on  the  origin  of  the  Eskimo  and  their  civilization. 
Everything  points  to  the  fact  that  the  western  Eskimo  are  nearer  the  origin 
linguistically  and  ethnologically  than  the  eastern  and  central.  This  seems 
proved  by  Thalbitzer. 

One  must  then  say  that  the  eastern  Eskimo  have  a  potlatch  of  very 
ancient  origin.  The  special  totems  and  masks  of  the  western  festivals  are 
clearly  of  Indian  derivation.  The  disappearance  in  east  and  central  Arctic 
America  of  the  Eskimo  potlatch  is  ill  explained  except  by  the  gradual 
degeneration  of  the  eastern  Eskimo  societies. 

*^  Hall,  Life  with  the  Esquimaux,  Vol.  II,  p.  320.  It  is  remarkable  that  this 
is  found  not  with  reference  to  the  Alaskan  potlatch,  but  to  the  central 
Eskimo,  who  have  only  communal  winter  festivals  and  gift  exchange.  This 
shows  that  the  notion  extends  beyond  the  limits  of  the  potlatch  proper. 

**  Nelson,  'Eskimos  about  Behring  Straits'  in  A.R.B.A.E.,  XVIII,  303, 
and  Porter,  nth  Census,  pp.  138,  141,  and  especially  Wrangold,  Statistische 
Ergebnisse,  etc.,  p.  132.  For  the  'asking  stick',  cf  Hawkes,  'The  Inviting-in 
Feast  of  the  Alaskan  Eskimos'  in  Canadian  Geological  Survey,  Memo.  45, 
Anthropological  Series,  II,  7. 

**  Hawkes,  ibid.,  pp.  3,  7.  Cf  p.  9  description  of  one  such  festival, 
Unalaklit  v.  Malemiut.  One  of  the  most  characteristic  traits  is  the  series 
of  comical  prestations  on  the  first  day  and  the  gifts  concerned.  One  tribe 
tries  to  make  the  other  laugh  and  can  demand  anything  it  wants.  The  best 
dancers  receive  valuable  presents  (pp.  12-14).  This  is  a  clear  and  rare 
example  (I  know  of  others  in  Australia  and  America)  of  representation  in 
ritual  of  a  theme  which  is  frequent  enough  in  mythology:  the  spirit  of 
jealousy  which,  when  it  laughs,  leaves  hold  of  its  object. 

The  Inviting-in  Festival  ends  with  a  visit  of  the  angekok  (shaman)  to 
the  spirit-men,  inua,  whose  mask  he  wears  and  who  tell  him  they  have 
enjoyed  the  dance  and  will  send  game.  Cf.  the  gift  made  to  seals,  Jennes, 
'Life  of  the  Copper  Eskimos'  in  Report  of  the  Canadian  Arctic  Expedition, 
Vol.  XII,  1922,  p.  178. 

Other  themes  of  gift-giving  customs  are  strongly  marked;  e.g.  the  chief 
naskuk  has  no  right  to  refuse  a  gift  or  food  however  scarce  it  may  be  for 
fear  of  being  evermore  disgraced.  Hawkes,  ibid.,  p.  9. 

Hawkes  rightly  considers  (p.  1 9)  the  festival  of  the  Dene  described  by 
Chapman  [Congres  des  Americanistes  de  Quebec,  1907,  Vol.  II)  as  an  Eskimo 
borrowing  from  Indians. 

**  See  illustration  in  Chukchee,  p.  403. 

«Mbid.,  pp.  399-401. 

**  Koryak,  pp.  64,  90,  98. 

*'  Chukchee,  p.  400.  On  customs  of  this  type  see  Frazer,  The  Golden  Bough 
(3rd  edn.),  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  78-85,  91  ff. ;  Vol.  X,  pp.  169  fif.,  also  pp.  i,  161. 

*"  This  is  a  basic  trait  of  all  North- West  American  potlatch.  It  is  not 
very  noticeable,  however,  since  the  ritual  is  so  totemistic  that  its  effect 
upon  nature  is  less  evident  than  its  influence  over  spirits.  It  is  more  obvious 


90  THE    GIFT  CH.  I 

in  the  Behring  Straits,  especially  with  the   Chukchee  and  the  Eskimo 
potlatch  of  Saint-Lawrence  Isle. 

^^  See  potlatch  myth  in  Bogoras,  Chukchee  Mythology,  p.  1 4.  One  shaman 
asks  another:  'With  what  will  you  answer?'  (i.e.  make  return  gift).  A 
struggle  ensues  but  finally  they  come  to  an  agreement;  they  exchange  their 
magic  knives  and  necklaces,  then  their  (assistant)  spirits  and  lastly  their 
bodies  (p.  15).  Thereafter  they  are  not  entirely  successful  for  they  forget  to 
exchange  their  bracelets  and  tassels  ('my  guide  in  motion'),  p.  16.  These 
objects  have  the  same  spiritual  value  as  the  spirits  themselves. 

*'Jochelsen,  'Koryak  Religion',  J.N.P.E.,  VI,  30.  A  Kwakiutl  spirit 
song  (from  winter  ceremony  shamanism)  comments: 

'You  send  us  all  things  from  the  other  world,  O  spirits 
You  heard  that  we  were  hungry 
We  shall  receive  many  things  from  you.' 

Sec.  Sac,  p.  487. 

^*  Foi  Jurie,  pp.  224  ff.,  refers. 

'*  Koopen,  pp.  1 63-8,  1 58-9,  3  and  5  of  the  summary. 

^*  Argonauts,  p.  511. 

*'  Ibid.,  pp.  72,  184. 

*'  Ibid.,  p.  512.  Cf.  'Baloma,  Spirits  of  the  Dead',  m  J.R.A.I.,  1917. 

*8  The  Maori  myth  of  Te  Kanava  (Grey,  Polynesian  Mythology,  Routledge 
edn.,  p.  213)  relates  how  spirits  took  the  shadows  of  the  pounamu  (jasper, 
etc. — in  other  words  taonga)  displayed  in  their  honour.  An  identical  myth 
from  Mangaia  (Wyatt  Gill,  Myths  and  Songs  from  the  South  Pacific,  p.  257) 
tells  the  same  tale  about  red  shell  necklaces  and  how  they  gain  the  favours 
of  the  beautiful  Manapu. 

^^  Argonauts,  p.  513.  Malinowski  (p.  510,  etc.)  lays  too  much  claim  to 
the  novelty  of  his  data  which  are  identical  with  aspects  of  Tlingit  and  Haida 
potlatch. 

'"  'Het  Primitieve  Denken,  voorn.  in  Pokkengebruiken'  in  Bijdr.  tot  de 
Taal-,  Land-,  en  Volkenk.  v.  Nederl.  Indie,  LXXI,  245-6. 

*^  Crawley,  The  Mystic  Rose,  p.  386,  has  already  put  forward  a  hypo- 
thesis on  these  lines,  and  Westermarck  examined  it  and  adduced  some 
proof.  See  especially  History  of  Human  Marriage,  2nd  edn..  Vol.  I,  pp.  394  ff. 
His  approach  is  vitiated  since  he  identifies  the  system  of  total  prestations 
and  the  more  highly  developed  potlatch  in  which  the  exchanges  (including 
exchange  of  women  in  marriage)  form  only  a  part.  On  fertility  in  marriage 
assured  by  gifts  made  to  the  spouses  see  later. 

'*  Vajasaneyisamhita.  See  Hubert  and  Mauss,  'Essai  sur  le  Sacrifice' 
in  A.S.,  II.  105. 

•*  Tremearne,  Haussa  Superstitions  and  Customs,  19 13,  p.  55. 

•*  Tremearne,  The  Ban  of  the  Bori,  19 15,  p.  239. 

•^  Robertson  Smith,  Religion  of  the  Semites,  p.  283 :  the  poor  are  the 
guests  of  God. 

•*  The  Betsimisaraka  of  Madagascar  tell  how  of  two  chiefs  one  shared 
out  all  his  possessions  and  the  other  kept  all  of  his.  God  sent  fortune  to  the 
generous  chief  and  ruined  the  selfish  one  (Grandidier,  Etknographie  de 
Madagascar,  Vol.  II,  p.  67). 


CH.  II  NOTES  91 

"  See  Westermarck,  Origin  and  Development  of  Moral  Ideas,  Vol.  I, 
Chap.  XXIII  on  notions  of  alms,  generosity  and  liberality. 

•*  Questions  tend  to  pose  themselves  after  one's  research  is  finished, 
and  I  have  not  been  able  to  re-read  all  the  literature.  But  I  have  no  doubt 
that  we  could  find  many  more  significant  traces  of  the  potlatch  in  Polynesia, 
e.g.  the  display  of  food,  hakari  (Tregear,  The  Maori  Race,  p.  113)  has  many 
of  the  same  details  as  the  similarly  named  hekarai  of  the  Koita  Melanesians. 
See  Seligman,  Melanesians,  pp.  14 1-5.  On  the  hakari  see  also  Taylor,  Te 
ika  a  mani,  p.  13;  Yeats,  An  Account  of  New  Zealand,  1835,  p.  139.  Cf  Tregear, 
M.C.D.  under  hakari.  Cf.  a  myth  in  Grey,  Polynesian  Mythology,  p.  189  which 
describes  the  hakari  of  Maru,  god  of  war,  when  the  attitude  of  the  recipients 
is  identical  with  that  in  New  Caledonian,  Fijian  and  New  Guinea  festivals. 
A  song  collected  by  Sir  E.  Grey  {Konga  Moteatea,  Mythology  and  Traditions 
in  New  Zealand,  1853,  p.  132)  has  verse  2: 

'Give  me  taonga  from  this  direction 

Give  me  taonga,  that  I  may  place  in  heaps 

To  place  them  in  heaps  towards  the  land 

To  place  them  in  heaps  towards  the  sea,  etc.  .  .  . 

Give  me  my  taonga.'' 
It  is  seen  how  important  the  notion  of  taonga  is  to  the  ritual  of  the  festival. 
Cf.  Percy  Smith,  'Wars  of  the  Northern  against  the  Southern  Tribes'  in 
J.P.S.,  VIII,  156. 

Even  although  the  potlatch  may  not  exist  in  present  Polynesian  society 
it  may  well  have  existed  in  the  civilization  overrun  and  absorbed  by  the 
immigration  of  Polynesians,  and  the  latter  themselves  may  have  had  it 
before  their  migration.  There  is  in  fact  a  good  reason  why  it  should  have 
disappeared  from  a  part  of  the  area,  for  in  the  islands  there  is  a  hierarchy 
of  clans  clustered  round  a  monarchy ;  thus  one  of  the  chief  conditions  of 
the  potlatch  is  absent:  an  unstable  hierarchy  changeable  from  time  to 
time  by  the  jealousy  of  chiefs.  There  are  clearer  traces  with  the  Maori  who 
have  chiefs  and  where  clans  are  set  in  rivalry  against  each  other. 

See  Kramer,  Samoa-Inseln,  Vol.  I,  p.  375  and  index  under  ifoga  for 
destruction  of  property  of  the  American  and  Melanesian  manner.  Perhaps 
the  Maori  nuru,  destruction  of  property  following  a  misdemeanour,  may 
be  studied  from  this  angle.  In  Madagascar  the  relationships  amongst  the 
Lohateny  who  trade  and  may  insult  or  ruin  each  other  also  show  traces  of 
a  former  potlatch;  Grandidier,  Ethnologie  de  Madagascar,  Vol.  II,  pp.  13 1-3; 
cf.  p.  155. 

Chapter  II 

^  Die  Stellung  der  Pygmdenvolker,  19 10.  We  do  not  agree  with  Father 
Schmidt  on  this  point.  See  A.S.,  XII,  65  ff. 

*  Andamans,  p.  83.  'Although  the  natives  themselves  regarded  the 
objects  thus  given  as  being  presents,  yet  when  a  man  gave  a  present  to 
another  he  expected  that  he  would  receive  something  of  equal  value  in 
return,  and  would  be  very  angry  if  the  return  present  did  not  come  up  to 
his  expectations.' 


92  THE    GIFT  CH.  II 

'  Andamans,  pp.  73,  81 ;  cf.  p.  237.  Radcliffe-Brown  then  observes  how 
unstable  the  contractual  activities  are,  how  they  lead  to  sudden  quarrels 
although  the  point  of  the  exchange  is  to  dispel  them. 

*  Ibid.,  p.  237, 
''Ibid.,  p.  81. 

•  Cf.  the  kalduke  and  ngia-ngiampe  with  the  Narrinyeri  and  the  yutchin 
among  the  Dieri. 

'  Andamans,  p.  237. 

'  Ibid.,  pp.  245-6.  Radcliffe-Brown  produces  an  excellent  sociological 
theory  on  these  manifestations  of  solidarity,  on  the  identity  of  sentiments 
and  the  character  of  the  manifestations  at  once  constrained  and  spontaneous. 
There  is  a  related  problem  to  which  we  drew  attention  in  'Expression 
obligatoire  des  Sentiments'  in  Journal  de  Psychologie,  192 1. 

"  One  might  mention  again  the  question  of  money  in  Polynesia.  Axes, 
jades,  tikis,  cachelot  teeth  are  doubtless  to  be  reckoned  no  less  than  shells 
and  crystals  as  currency. 

^°  'La  Monnaie  Neo-Cale'donienne'  in  Revue  d^Ethnographie,  1922,  p.  328; 
on  money  in  funeral  ceremonies,  p.  322.  See  also  'La  Fete  du  Pilou  en 
Nouvelle-Caledonie'j  Anthropologie,   1922,  pp.  226  ff. 

^^  Ibid.,  pp.  236-7;  cf.  pp.  250-1. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  247. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  263;  cf.  'La  Monnaie  Caledonienne',  p.  332. 

^*  This  resembles  Polynesian  symbolism.  In  the  Mangaia  Islands  peace 
was  symbolized  by  a  well-built  house  with  a  sound  roof  in  which  the  gods 
and  the  clans  might  gather ;  Wyatt  Gill,  Myths  and  Songs  of  the  South  Pacific, 
p.  294. 

^*  P^re  Lambert,  Mceurs  des  Sauvages  Neo-Caledoniens,  1900,  describes 
numerous  potlatches,  one  in  1856,  on  p.  119;  series  of  funeral  feasts,  pp. 
"234-5;  potlatch  on  a  second  burial,  pp.  240-6;  the  humiliation  and  possible 
flight  of  a  vanquished  chief  is  the  occasion  of  uru-eturned  gifts  and  pot- 
latches,  p.  53.  'Everyone  demands  another  present  in  return',  p.  116.  The 
return  gifts  are  exposed  in  the  display  house,  p.  125.  Presents  on  visits  are 
obligatory.  They  are  necessary  on  marriage,  pp.  10,  93-4;  they  are  irre- 
vocable and  their  return  is  made  'with  usury'  especially  to  the  bengam,  a 
kind  of  cousin,  p.  215.  The  trianda  dance  of  presents,  p.  158. 

^'  See  'Kula'  in  Man,  July  1920,  and  Argonauts. 

^'  Malinowski  overrates  the  novelty  of  his  facts,  pp.  313-15.  The  kula 
is  really  an  inter-tribal  potlatch  of  a  kind  common  enough  in  Melanesia, 
to  which  belong  the  expeditions  of  this  kind  described  by  P^re  Lambert  in 
New  Caledonia,  and  the  great  Olo-olo  of  the  Fijians,  etc.  See  Mauss,  'Ex- 
tension du  Potlatch  en  MeJanesie'  in  Anthropologie,  1920.  The  meaning  of 
the  word  kula  is  akin  to  that  of  various  similar  words,  e.g.  ulu-ulu.  See 
H.M.S.,  Vol.  II,  pp.  415,  485,  and  Vol.  I,  p.  160.  In  certain  aspects  the 
kula  is  less  characteristic  than  the  American  potlatch,  for  here  the  islands 
are  smaller  and  the  societies  less  strong  and  wealthy  than  those  off  the 
coast  of  British  Columbia  where  all  the  traits  of  the  inter-tribal  potlatch 
are  found.  There  are  many  international  potlatches,  e.g.  Haida  v.  Tlingit 
(Sitka  was  a  common  village  and  Nass  River  a  favourite  meeting  place) ; 


CH.  II  NOTES  93 

Kwakiutl  v.  Bellacoola  and  Heiltsuq;  Haida  v.  Tsimshian,  etc.;  this  is 
natural  for  formal  exchanges  are  normally  extended  across  tribal  boun- 
daries. Here  as  elsewhere  they  have  no  doubt  blazed  new  trade-routes  as 
well  as  following  the  old  ones  between  wealthy  maritime  tribes. 

^*  Argonauts,  p.  473.  Note  the  expression  of  modesty:  'My  food  left  over, 
take  it',  referring  to  the  gift  of  a  valuable  necklace. 

^*  Ibid.,  pp.  95,  189,  193.  It  is  in  order  to  make  himself  understood  to 
Europeans  that  the  author,  p.  187,  counts  the  kula  as  '  ceremonial  barter 
with  deferred  payment'.  The  words  payment  and  barter  are  both  European. 

2"  See  Prim.  Ec. 

*i  Cf.  the  rite  of  tanarere,  display  of  expedition  gains  on  the  shore  of 
Muwa,  ibid.,  pp.  374-5,  391.  Cf.  uvalaku  on  Dobu,  p.  381.  The  best,  i.e. 
luckiest,  business  man  is  named. 

^"^  Wawqyla  ritual,  ibid.,  pp.  353-4;  magic,  pp.  360-3. 

*^  Ibid.,  p.  471.  See  frontispiece,  PI.  LX,  etc.,  and  p.  155. 

^*  This  morality  is  comparable  with  the  fine  paragraphs  of  the  Nico- 
machean  Ethics  on  fieyaXoTrpeneLa  and  iXevdepla. 

**  Note  on  the  principle  adopted  in  discussing  the  idea  of  money.  We  insist, 
despite  Malinowski's  objection  ('Primitive  Currency',  in  Economics  Journal, 
1923)  on  using  this  term.  Malinowski  {Argonauts,  p.  499)  protested  against 
misuse  and  criticized  the  terminology  of  Seligman.  Malinowski  applies  the 
term  money  to  objects  serving  not  only  as  a  medium  of  exchange,  but  also 
as  a  standard  of  value.  Simiand  objected  in  the  same  way  to  the  use  of  the 
term  in  this  type  of  society.  Both  of  them  are  surely  right;  they  take  the 
narrow  meaning  of  the  term.  In  this  view  there  is  economic  value  only 
when  there  is  money.  There  is  money  only  when  precious  objects,  condensed 
wealth  or  tokens  of  wealth  are  made  into  money — when  they  are  named, 
impersonalized,  detached  from  any  relationships  with  moral,  collective  or 
individual  persons  other  than  the  authority  of  the  state  which  mints  them. 
The  question  is  then  what  arbitrary  limit  we  should  impose  on  the  use  of 
the  word.  The  above  definition  can  cover  only  a  secondary  type  of  money 
— our  own. 

In  all  societies  preceding  those  which  minted  gold,  bronze  and  silver, 
other  things,  particularly  shells  and  precious  metals,  were  used  as  a  means 
of  exchange  and  payment;  in  some  present-day  societies  the  same  system 
holds,  and  it  is  this  system  we  are  describing.  These  precious  objects  differ, 
it  is  true,  from  what  we  are  accustomed  to  consider  as  purchasing  instru- 
ments. Beyond  their  economic  nature  they  have  a  mystical  nature  and  are 
talismans  or  'life-givers',  as  Rivers,  Perry  and  Jackson  say.  Moreover,  they 
have  a  very  general  circulation  within  a  society  and  between  societies,  but 
they  are  still  attached  to  persons  or  clans  (the  first  Roman  coins  were  struck 
by  gentes),  to  the  individuality  of  their  former  possessors  and  to  contracts 
made  between  moral  beings.  There  value  is  still  subjective.  For  instance 
the  strings  of  pearls  used  as  currency  in  Melanesia  are  still  valued  according 
to  the  measure  of  the  person  who  gives  them — H.M.S.,  Vol.  II,  p.  527; 
Vol.  I,  pp.  64,  71,  10 1,  160  ff.  Cf.  the  expression  Schulterfaden :  Forschungen, 
Vol.  Ill,  pp.  41  ff.;  Vol.  I,  p.  189;  Huftschnur,  Vol.  I,  p.  263.  We  shall  note 
other  examples  of  these  institutions.  It  is  true  again  that  these  values  are 


94  THE    GIFT  CH.  II 

unstable  and  that  they  are  not  of  a  proper  character  to  be  measured  and 
stamped,  for  instance  their  value  varies  according  to  the  number  and  size 
of  the  transactions  in  which  they  have  taken  part.  MaUnowski  shows  for 
instance  how  vaygu'a  acquire  prestige  in  the  course  of  their  travels.  In  the 
same  way  the  North-West  American  coppers  and  Samoan  mats  increase 
in  value  at  each  potlatch. 

But  in  two  respects  these  valuables  have  the  same  function  as  money  in 
our  society  and  consequently  deserve  to  be  put  at  least  in  the  same  genus. 
They  have  the  power  to  buy  and  this  power  can  be  computed.  An  American 
copper  is  paid  for  with  so  many  blankets;  a  vaygu^a  is  worth  so  many 
baskets  of  yams.  The  idea  of  number  is  present  although  the  number  is 
not  fixed  by  a  state  authority  and  is  variable  from  one  kula  or  potlatch  to 
another.  Moreover,  this  purchasing  power  is  in  fact  liberating.  Although  it 
is  recognized  only  between  certain  definite  individuals,  tribes  or  clans,  and 
only  among  associates,  it  is  none  the  less  public,  official  and  fixed.  Brudo, 
a  friend  of  Malinowski,  and  like  him  long  resident  in  the  Trobriands,  paid 
his  pearl  fishermen  in  vaygu'a  as  well  as  in  European  money  or  goods  at  a 
fixed  rate.  The  passage  from  one  system  to  the  other  was  made  without 
difficulty. 

We  hold  that  mankind  made  a  number  of  tentative  steps.  At  first  it 
was  found  that  certain  things,  most  of  them  magical  and  precious,  were 
by  custom  not  destroyed,  and  these  were  endowed  with  the  power  to 
exchange  (see  Mauss,  'Origine  de  la  Notion  de  la  Monnaie',  Anthropologie, 
1914).  In  the  second  stage,  mankind  having  succeeded  in  making  things 
circulate  within  the  tribe  and  far  outside  it  found  that  these  purchasing 
instruments  could  serve  as  a  means  to  count  wealth  and  make  it  circulate. 
This  is  the  stage  we  are  describing  at  present.  The  third  stage  began  in 
ancient  Semitic  societies  which  invented  the  means  of  detaching  these 
precious  things  from  groups  and  individuals  and  of  making  them  per- 
manent instruments  of  value  measurement — universal,  if  not  entirely 
rational — for  lack  of  any  better  system. 

Thus  we  hold  there  was  a  form  of  money  consisting,  as  in  Africa  and 
Asia  today,  of  blocks  and  bars  of  copper,  iron,  etc.,  or  cattle  as  in  ancient 
society  or  present-day  Afi^ica. 

**  Argonauts,  PI.  XIX.  It  seems  that  Trobriand  women,  like  the  North- 
West  American  'princesses',  serve  as  a  means  of  displaying  wealth,  which 
also  'charms'  them.  Cf.  Forschungen,  Vol.  I,  pp.  138,  159,  192. 

"Argonauts,  map,  p.  82.  Cf.  'Kula'  in  Man,  1920,  p.  loi.  Malinowski 
found  no  myths  or  other  facts  explaining  the  direction  of  the  movements. 
A  reason  would  be  interesting  to  discover ;  for,  if  the  reason  were  contained 
in  the  things  themselves  tending  to  return  to  their  point  of  origin,  following 
some  original  mythical  event,  this  would  be  very  close  to  the  Maori  hau. 

*'  On  this  trade  and  civilization  see  Melanesians,  Chaps.  XXXIII  ff, 
Cf.  A.S.,  XII,  374;  Argonauts,  p.  96. 

*  •  Argonauts,  p.  94. 

»"  Ibid.,  pp.  492,  502. 

*•  The  remote  partner  {murimuri,  cf.  muri,  Melanesians,  pp.  505,  572)  is 
known  to  at  least  one  of  the  series  of  partners. 


CH.  II  NOTES  95 

**  See  general  observations  on  the  ceremony,  Argonauts,  pp.  89-90. 

*'  Ibid.,  p.  504,  paired  names,  cf.  pp.  89,  271.  See  myth,  p.  323;  the 
way  in  which  soulava  is  spoken  of. 

'*  Ibid.,  p.  512. 

"Ibid.,  p.  513. 

*•  Ibid.,  p.  340;  commentary,  p.  347, 

*^  On  the  use  of  the  conch,  ibid.,  pp.  340,  387,  471,  PK  LXL  The  conch 
is  sounded  on  each  transaction,  at  each  solemn  moment  erf"  the  common 
feast,  etc.  On  the  distribution  and  history  of  the  conch  see  Jackson,  'Pearls 
and  Shells',  University  of  Manchester  Series,  1921. 

The  use  of  trumpets,  drums,  etc.,  on  feasts  and  contracts  is  met  with  in 
a  great  number  of  West  African,  Bantu,  Asiatic,  American,  Indo-European, 
etc.,  societies.  It  is  connected  with  the  legal  and  economic  themes  we  are 
discussing,  and  deserves  wide  study. 

^'  Argonauts,  p.  340,  mwanita.  Cf.  the  Kiriwina  text  of  the  first  two  lines, 
p.  448.  This  is  the  name  of  the  long  black-banded  worm  with  which 
spondylus  necklaces  are  identified  (p.  340).  There  follows  the  spell:  'Come 
there  together ;  I  will  make  you  come  there  together !  Come  here  together ; 
I  will  make  you  come  here  together!  The  rainbow  appears  there;  I  will 
make  the  rainbow  appear  there!  The  rainbow  appears  here;  I  will  make 
the  rainbow  appear  here!'  Malinowski,  following  the  natives,  considers 
the  rainbow  as  a  simple  omen.  It  may  also  refer  to  the  many  colours  of 
mother-of-pearl.  The  expression  'Come  here  together'  relates  to  the  valuable 
objects  that  will  come  together  in  the  course  of  the  contract,  'here'  and 
'there'  are  represented  simply  by  the  sounds  m  and  w,  and  are  frequently 
used  in  magic. 

^•The  word  is  translated  (cf  ibid.,  p.  449)  munumweynise,  redoubled 
form  of  mwana  or  mwaina  which  expresses  the  'itching'  or  'state  of  excite- 
ment'. 

*•  I  suppose  there  must  have  been  a  line  like  this  because  the  author 
says  formally  on  p.  340  that  the  principal  word  of  the  spell  means  the  state 
of  mind  which  should  befall  the  partner  and  cause  him  to  make  generous 
gifts. 

**  A  taboo  imposed  during  kula  and  s^oi  mortuary  festivals  with  a  view 
to  being  able  to  collect  the  necessary  amount  of  food,  areca  nuts  and 
precious  objects.  Cf  pp.  347-50.  The  spell  extends  also  to  food. 

**  Names  of  various  necklaces.  They  are  not  analysed.  The  names  are 
made  up  of  bagi-  which  means  necklace  and  various  other  words.  There 
follow  other  necklace  names  of  an  equally  magical  nature.  This  spell  is 
for  Sinaketa  where  necklaces  are  sought  and  bracelets  left  and  so  necklaces 
only  are  mentioned.  An  identical  spell  is  used  in  the  Kiriwina  kula;  but 
since  bracelets  are  sought  there  it  is  bracelet  names  that  are  mentioned. 

The  end  of  the  spell  is  interesting  but  only  from  the  point  of  view  of  the 
potlatch:  'I  shall  kula,  I  shall  rob  my  kula;  I  shall  steal  my  kula  (partner); 
I  shall  pilfer  my  kula.  I  shall  kula  so  as  to  make  my  canoe  sink.  .  .  .  My 
fame  is  like  thunder,  my  steps  are  like  earthquake.'  This  looks  strangely 
American,  and  there  are  analogies  in  Samoa. 

*'  Ibid.,  p.  345.  The  end  is  the  same  as  the  one  just  noted. 


gS  THE    GIFT  CH.  II 

«« Argonauts,  p.  343.  Cf.  p.  449. 

**  Ibid.,  p.  348.  This  couplet  follows  a  series  of  lines:  'Thy  fury  ebbs, 
it  ebbs  away.  O  man  of  Dobu.  .  .  .'  Then  follows  the  same  series  with 
'woman  of  Dobu'.  Dobu  women  are  taboo  while  Kiriwina  women  prostitute 
themselves  to  the  visitors. 

**  Ibid.,  p.  356.  Perhaps  this  is  a  myth  to  account  for  the  directions. 

*'  One  might  use  L^vy-Bruhl's  term  'participations'  which  implies 
confusion  and  the  kinds  of  identification  we  are  concerned  with  here. 

"  Ibid.,  pp.  345  ff. 

♦»  Ibid.,  p.  98. 

••*  This  word  might  also  refer  to  the  old  type  of  boar's  tooth  currency, 

P-  353- 

•^  The  lebu  custom,  p.  319.  Cf.  Myth,  p.  313. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  359.  Of  a  well-known  vqygu'a  it  is  said:  '  Many  men  died 
because  of  it'.  In  one  case  at  least  (Dobu,  p.  356),  it  seems  that  the  yotile 
is  always  a  mwali,  a  bracelet,  the  feminine  principle  in  the  transaction: 
'We  do  not  kwaypolu  or  pokala  them,  they  are  women.'  But  in  Dobu 
only  bracelets  are  sought  and  it  may  be  that  the  fact  has  no  further 
significance. 

'^  It  seems  there  are  several  kinds  of  transactions  mixed  up  here.  The 
basi  may  be  a  necklace  (cf.  p.  98)  or  a  bracelet  of  lesser  value.  But  articles 
not  strictly  kula  may  also  be  given  in  basi:  lime  spatulae  for  betel,  coarse 
necklaces,  large  polished  axes  {beku)  (cf.  pp.  358,  486)  which  are  also  a 
kind  of  currency. 

"  Ibid.,  pp.  157,  359. 

'^  Malinowski's  book,  like  Thurnwald's,  shows  the  superior  observation 
of  the  trained  sociologist.  Thurnwald,  noting  similar  facts  in  the  mamoko 
{FoTschungen,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  40),  the  Trostgabe  in  Buin,  gave  a  lead  in  describing 
facts  of  this  kind. 

^*  Argonauts,  p.  189,  cf.  PI.  XXXVII.  Cf.  'secondary  trade',  p.  100. 

''  These  have  the  generic  name  of  wawoyla,  pp.  353-4;  cf.  pp.  360-1; 
cf.  woyla,  wooing  for  kula  gifts,  p.  439.  This  comes  into  a  spell  where  all 
the  articles  which  a  future  partner  might  possess  are  enumerated,  and 
whose  'boiling'  will  decide  the  giver  in  his  favour. 

'*  This  is  the  usual  term;  'presentation  goods',  ibid.,  pp.  439,  205,  350. 
The  word  vata^i  is  used  for  the  same  presents  given  by  the  people  of  Dobu, 
cf.  p.  391.  These  'arrival  gifts'  are  enumerated  in  the  spell:  'My  lime  pot 
it  boils;  my  comb  it  boils.  .  .  .'  In  addition  to  these  generic  names  there  are 
special  names  for  special  gifts.  The  offerings  of  food  taken  by  the  people 
on  Sinaketa  to  Dobu  (and  not  vice  versa),  the  pots,  mats,  etc.,  are  called 
pokala,  meaning  simply  'offering'.  Other  pokala  include  the  gugu'a  (personal 
belongings),  p.  501,  cf.  pp.  270,  313,  which  the  individual  takes  to  try  to 
procure  {pokapokala,  p.  360)  his  future  partner,  cf.  p.  369.  In  these  societies 
there  is  a  clear  distinction  made  between  articles  for  personal  use  and 
'properties' — durable  things  belonging  to  the  family  or  to  general  circula- 
tion. 

'•  E.g.  ibid.,  p.  313,  buna. 

«"  E.g.  kaributu,  pp.  344,  358. 


CH.  II  NOTES  97 

•^  Malinowski  was  told  (ibid.,  p.  276) :  'My  partner  same  as  my  clansman 
{kakaveyogu) — he  might  fight  me.  My  real  kinsman  {veyogu),  same  navel- 
string,  would  always  side  with  us.' 

**  This  is  expressed  in  the  kula  formula  mwasila. 

"  The  leaders  of  the  expedition  and  the  canoes  have  precedence. 

'*  The  amusing  Kasabwaybwayreta  myth  (p.  322)  in  which  the  hero 
obtains  the  famous  Gumakarakedakeda  necklace  and  leaves  all  his  kula 
companions  mentions  all  these  motives.   See  also  myth  of  Tokosikuna, 

P-  307- 

"  Ibid.,  p.  390.  At  Dobu,  pp.  362,  365,  etc. 

•'  On  the  stone  axe  trade,  see  Melanesians,  pp.  350-3.  On  the  kortumna, 
Argonauts,  pp.  358,  365;  they  are  usually  decorated  whalebone  spoons, 
decorated  spatulae  also  used  as  basi. 

•'  Argonauts,  pp.  486-91.  For  the  distribution  of  these  customs  throughout 
North  Massim,  see  Melanesians,  p.  584.  Descriptions  ofwalaga,  pp.  594,  603; 
cf.  Argonauts,  pp.  486-7. 

««  Ibid.,  p.  479. 

*•  Ibid.,  p.  472. 

"">  The  manufacture  and  gift  of  mwali  by  a  brother-in-law  \s  youloy  pp. 
280,  503. 

"  Ibid.,  pp.  171  fF.;  cf.  pp.  98  fT. 

'*  Those  concerned  with  canoe-building,  the  collection  of  pots,  or  the 
furnishing  of  food. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  167:  '  The  whole  tribal  life  is  permeated  by  a  constant  give 
and  take;  every  ceremony,  every  legal  and  customary  act  is  done  to  the 
accompaniment  of  material  gift  and  counter-gift;  wealth,  given  and  taken, 
is  one  of  the  main  instruments  of  social  organization,  of  the  power  of  the 
chief,  of  the  bonds  of  kinship  and  of  relationship  in  law.'  Cf.  pp.  175-6 
et  passim. 

^*  It  may  even  be  identical  with  kula,  the  partners  bemg  the  same, 
p.  193;  description  oi  wasi,  pp.  187-8,  cf.  PI.  XXXVI. 

'*  The  obligation  remains  in  spite  of  the  recent  losses  and  inconveniences 
sustained  by  the  pearl-fishers,  who  are  obliged  to  take  part  in  the  fishing 
expedition  and  lose  considerable  income  in  virtue  of  custom. 

■"'  Pis.  XXXII,  XXXIII. 

''"'  Sagali  means  distribution,  like  the  Polynesian  hakari,  ibid.,  p.  491. 
Cf.  pp.  147-50,  170,  192-3. 

'*  In  mortuary  feasts  especially.  Cf.  Melanesians,  pp.  594-603. 

''*  Argonauts,  p.  175. 

*"  Ibid.,  p.  323;  another  term,  kwaypolu,  p.  356. 

"  Ibid.,  pp.  378-9,  354. 

**  Ibid.,  pp.  163,  373.  The  vakapula  has  subdivisions  with  their  own 
names,  e.g.  vewoulo,  initial  gift,  z.n6.yomelu,  final  gift.  This  shows  the  identity 
with  the  kula.  Some  of  the  payments  have  their  own  names :  karibudaboda 
is  the  payment  to  canoe  builders  and  more  generally  any  who  work,  e.g. 
in  the  gardens — specially  referring  to  the  final  payment  after  the  harvest 
{urigubu  in  the  case  of  annual  gifts  of  harvest  fruits  to  sister's  husband, 
pp.  63-5,  181)  and  payment  for  necklaces,  pp.  183,  394.  This  is  also  sousula 


98  THE    GIFT  CH.  II 

if  it  is  very  large  (cf.  manufacture  of  spondylus  discs,  pp.  183,  373).  Toulo 
is  the  payment  for  manufacturing  a  bracelet.  Pmvayu  is  the  payment  of  food 
given  to  encourage  a  team  of  wood-cutters.  Cf  the  song  p.  129:  'The  pig, 
the  coco  drinks,  the  yams  are  finished,  and  yet  we  pull — very  heavy!' 

The  words  vakapula  and  maptila  are  different  forms  of  the  word  pula, 
vaka-  being  apparently  the  causative  prefix.  Mapula  Malinowski  translates 
as  'repayment'.  It  is  generally  compared  with  a  poultice  for  it  eases  the 
pain  and  the  tedium  of  the  service  rendered,  compensates  for  the  loss  of 
an  object  or  secret  given  away,  or  of  the  title  or  privilege  ceded. 

*'  Ibid.,  p.  179.  Gifts  for  sexual  services  are  buwana  or  sebuwana. 

**  See  preceding  notes;  in  the  same  way  kabigidqya,  p.  164,  is  the  cere- 
mony of  presentation  of  a  new  canoe,  the  people  who  make  it,  the  action 
of 'breaking  the  head  of  the  new  canoe',  etc.,  as  well  as  the  gifts  usuriously 
proffered.  Other  terms  refer  to  the  location  of  the  canoe,  p.  186,  gifts  of 
welcome,  p.  232,  etc. 

**  Buna,  big  cowrie  shell  gifts,  p.  317. 

*•  Youlo,  vaygu'a  given  as  payment  for  harvest  labour,  p.  280. 

*'  Ibid.,  pp.  186,  426,  means  apparently  any  usurious  counter-presta- 
tion.  Another  name  ula-ula  stands  for  simple  purchases  of  magic  formulae 
{sousula  if  the  payments  or  gifts  are  large,  p.  183).  Ula-ula  refers  also  to 
presents  offered  to  the  dead  as  well  as  the  living,  p.  383. 

**  Brewster,  Hill  Tribes  of  Fiji,  1922,  pp.  91-2. 

"  Ibid.,  p.  191. 

»<•  Ibid.,  pp.  23-6. 

•^  Melanesians,  glossary,  p.  754;  and  pp.  77,  93-4,  109,  204. 

•*  See  description  oi  doa,  ibid.,  pp.  71,  89,  91. 

"  Ibid.,  pp.  95,  146. 

**  Money  is  not  the  only  thing  in  this  system  that  the  tribes  of  the  Gulf 
of  New  Guinea  call  by  a  word  identical  to  the  Polynesian  of  the  same 
meaning.  We  have  noted  the  identity  of  the  New  Zealand  hakari  and  the 
hakarai  displays  of  food  which  Seligman  describes  from  Metu  and  Koita — 
Melanesians,  pp.  144-5,  P^s.  XVI-XVIII. 

'*  Note  the  Mota  (Banks  Is.)  dialect  word  tun,  clearly  the  same  as 
taonga,  means  'to  buy',  especially  a  woman.  Codrington,  Melanesian 
Languages,  pp.  307-8,  in  the  myth  of  Q,at  buying  the  night,  translates  it 
'to  buy  at  a  great  price'.  It  is  in  fact  a  purchase  according  to  potlatch  rules, 
well  attested  from  this  part  of  Melanesia. 

**  See  document  quoted  in  A.S.,  XII,  372. 

"  See  especially  Forschungen,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  38-41. 

'*  Zeitschrift  fUr  Ethnologie,  1922. 

'>'>  Forschungen,  Vol.  Ill,  PI.  II. 

loo/n  Primitive  New  Guinea,  1924,  p.  294.  Holmes'  description  of  inter- 
mediate gifts  is  not  good.  See  basi  above. 

^"1  Koopen.  This  uncertainty  about  the  words  which  we  translate  badly 
as  buying  and  selling  is  not  confined  to  the  Pacific.  We  return  to  this  later. 
We  note  here  that  in  French  vente  means  equally  sale  and  purchase;  while 
in  Chinese  there  is  difference  in  tone  only  between  the  words  meaniiTg 
purchase  and  sale. 


GH.  II  NOTES  99 

102  But  note  the  sale  of  slaves:  Haida  T.  and  M.,  p.  410. 

1°'  Our  survey  is  necessarily  incomplete.  We  make  an  abstraction  from 
a  large  number  of  tribes,  principally  the  following:  (i)  Nootka  (Wakash 
and  Kwakiutl  group),  Bella  Coola  (neighbours);  (2)  Salish  tribes, of  the 
Southern  coast.  Research  into  the  distribution  of  potlatch  should  be  carried 
as  far  south  as  California.  From  other  points  of  view  it  should  be  noted 
that  the  institution  is  spread  through  the  Penutia  and  Hoka  groups;  see 
for  example  Powers,  'Tribes  of  California'  in  Contributions  to  North  American 
Ethnology,  III,  153  (Pomo),  p.  238  (Wintun),  pp.  303,  311  (Maidu);  cf. 
pp.  247,  325,  332-3,  for  other  tribes,  and  general  observations,  p.  411. 

Also  the  institutions  and  arts  we  describe  here  in  a  few  words  are  in 
fact  of  very  great  complexity,  and  reveal  many  curious  features  no  less  in 
the  absence  of  traits  than  in  their  occurrence.  E.g.  pottery  is  unknown  as 
in  the  South  Pacific. 

1°*  There  is  much  sound  documentation  on  these  tribes,  many  philo- 
logical observations,  and  texts  in  the  original  and  translations.  See  summary 
in  Foi  Juree,  pp.  21,  171,  215.  Main  additions  are  as  follows:  F.  Boas  and 
G.  Hunt,  in  Eth.  Kwa.;  Boas,  Tsim.  Myth.,  1916,  pub.  1923.  These  sources, 
however,  have  a  disadvantage.  The  older  ones  are  scarce,  and  the  newer 
in  spite  of  their  depth  of  detail  are  not  specific  from  our  point  of  view.  Boas 
and  his  collaborators  in  the  Jesup  Expedition  were  interested  in  material 
culture,  language  and  mythology.  Even  the  oldest  works  of  professional 
ethnologists  (Krause  and  Jacobsen)  or  the  more  recent  works  of  Sapir, 
Hill  Tout,  etc.,  have  the  same  bias.  Legal,  economic  and  demographic 
analysis  remain  incomplete.  Social  morphology  has  been  begun  by  the 
various  censuses  of  Alaska  and  British  Columbia.  M.  Barbeau  promises  a 
complete  monograph  on  the  Tsimshian.  For  many  points  on  law  and  eco- 
nomics, see  old  documents,  those  of  Russian  travellers,  Krause  (Tlinkit 
Indianer),  Dawson  mainly  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  Geological  Survey  of  Canada  and 
the  Proceedings  of  the  Royal  Society  of  Canada;  Swan  (Nootka),  'Indians  of 
Cape  Flattery'  in  Smithsonian  Contributions  to  Knowledge,  1870;  Mayne,  Four 
Years  in  British  Columbia,  1862 — these  are  still  the  best  accounts  and  their 
dates  make  them  authoritative. 

There  is  a  diflficulty  in  the  nomenclature  of  the  tribes.  The  Kwakiutl 
are  one  tribe  but  give  their  name  to  several  federated  tribes,  the  whole 
forming  a  nation  of  this  name.  Unless  otherwise  stated  we  mean  by  Kwa- 
kiutl the  real  Kwakiutl  tribe.  The  word  itself  means  'rich'  and  is  itself 
an  indication  of  the  importance  of  the  economic  facts  we  shall  describe. 

i"'  See  Emmons,  'The  Chilkat  Blanket'  in  Memoires  of  the  A.M.N.H., 
Vol.  III. 

1"*  See  Rivet,  in  Meillet  and  Cohen,  Langues  du  Monde,  pp.  616  ff. 
Sapir,  in  'Na-Dene  Languages',  American  Anthropologist,  19 15,  reduced 
Tlingit  and  Haida  to  branches  of  the  Athabascan  group. 

1*"  On  these  see  Foi  Juree,  pp.  300-5.  For  Melanesia  see  examples  in 
Codrington,  Melanesian  Languages,  pp.  106  AT.;  Rivers,  H.M.S.,  Vol.  I, 
pp.  70  ff, 

1"*  This  word  is  to  be  read  in  both  its  real  and  figurative  meanings. 
Just  as  the  Vedic  vqjapeya  ritual  includes  the  rite  of  climbing  a  ladder, 
8 


lOO  THEGIFT  CH.  II 

Melanesian  ritual  consists  in  mounting  the  young  chief  on  a  platform.  The 
North-West  Coast  Snahnaimuq  and  Shushwap  have  a  scaffolding  from 
which  the  chief  distributes  his  potlatch;  Boas,  5th  Report,  p.  39;  gth  Report, 
p.  459.  The  other  tribes  only  have  a  platform  on  which  chiefs  and 
functionaries  sit. 

109  Which  is  how  the  old  authors,  Mayne,  Dawson,  Krause,  etc., 
describe  it.  See  Krause,  Tlinkit  Indianer,  pp.  187  ff.,  for  a  collection  of  old 
documents. 

"•*  If  the  hypothesis  of  linguists  is  correct  and  the  Tlingit  and  Haida 
are  simply  Athabascans  who  have  adopted  the  civilization  of  the  North- 
West  (Boas  himself  is  inclined  to  agree)  the  'worn'  character  of  Tlingit  and 
Haida  potlatch  would  be  explained.  Maybe  the  violence  of  North-West 
American  potlatch  is  accountable  by  the  fact  that  this  civilization  is  at 
the  point  of  contact  of  two  groups  of  families  that  both  had  the  institution : 
one  from  the  south  of  California,  the  other  from  Asia. 

^'^^  Foi  Jurie,  pp.  247  ff. 

"*  On  the  potlatch  Boas  has  written  nothing  better  than  this  extract 
from  the  12th  Report,  1898,  pp.  681-2. 

'The  economic  system  of  the  Indians  of  British  Columbia  is  largely 
based  on  credit,  just  as  much  as  that  of  civilized  communities.  In  all  his 
undertakings,  the  Indian  relies  on  the  help  of  his  friends.  He  promises  to 
pay  them  for  this  help  at  a  later  date.  If  the  help  furnished  consists  in 
valuables,  which  are  measured  by  the  Indians  by  blankets  as  we  measure 
them  by  money,  he  promises  to  pay  the  amount  so  loaned  with  interest. 
The  Indian  has  no  system  of  writing,  and  therefore,  in  order  to  give  security 
to  the  transaction,  it  is  performed  publicly.  The  contracting  of  debts,  on 
the  one  hand,  and  the  paying  of  debts,  on  the  other,  is  the  potlatch.  This 
economic  system  has  developed  to  such  an  extent  that  the  capital  possessed 
by  all  the  individuals  of  the  tribe  combined  exceeds  many  times  the  actual 
amount  of  cash  that  exists ;  that  is  to  say,  the  conditions  are  quite  analogous 
to  those  prevailing  in  our  community :  if  we  want  to  call  in  all  our  outstand- 
ing debts,  it  is  found  that  there  is  not  by  any  means  money  enough  in 
existence  to  pay  them,  and  the  result  of  an  attempt  of  all  the  creditors  to 
call  in  their  loans  results  in  disastrous  panic,  from  which  it  takes  the 
community  a  long  time  to  recover. 

'It  must  be  clearly  understood  that  an  Indian  who  invites  all  his  friends 
and  neighbours  to  a  great  potlatch,  and  apparently  squanders  all  the 
accumulated  results  of  long  years  of  labour,  has  two  things  in  his  mind 
which  we  cannot  but  acknowledge  as  wise  and  worthy  of  praise.  His  first 
object  is  to  pay  his  debts.  This  is  done  publicly  and  with  much  ceremony, 
as  a  matter  of  record.  His  second  object  is  to  invest  the  fruits  of  his  labours 
so  that  the  greatest  benefit  will  accrue  from  them  for  himself  as  well  as  for 
his  children.  The  recipients  of  gifts  at  this  festival  receive  these  as  loans, 
which  they  utilize  in  their  present  undertakings,  but  after  the  lapse  of 
several  years  they  must  repay  them  with  interest  to  the  giver  or  to  his  heirs. 
Thus  the  potlatch  comes  to  be  considered  by  the  Indians  as  a  means  of 
insuring  the  well-being  of  their  children  if  they  should  be  left  orphans  while 
still  young.' 


CH.  II  NOTES  lOI 

By  substituting  for  Boas's  terms  words  like  'gifts  made  and  returned' 
(which  Boas  does  use  eventually)  one  sees  clearly  the  function  of  credit  in 
the  potlatch. 

On  the  notion  of  honour,  see  Boas,  yth  Report,  p.  57. 

"'  Tlingit,  p.  421. 

1**  It  has  gone  unnoticed  that  the  notion  of  credit  is  not  only  as  old 
but  also  as  simple — or  if  one  prefers  as  complex — as  the  notion  of  direct 
sale. 

"'  'Etude  sur  les  Contrats  de  I'Epoque  de  la  Premiere  Dynastie  Baby- 
lonienne'  in  Nouvelle  Revue  de  VHistoire  du  Droit,  19 10,  p.  177. 

^^*  Foi  JurSe,  p.  207. 

^''  Distribution  of  one's  entire  property,  Kwakiutl,  Sec.  Sac,  p.  469. 
At  initiation  of  a  novice,  ibid.,  p.  551.  Koskimo,  Shushwap,  redistribution, 
yth  Report,  p.  91.  Tlingit,  p.  442:  'He  has  spent  so  much  money  to  let  the 
people  see  them  (his  nephews)'.  Redistribution  of  everything  won  at 
gambling,  Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  139. 

"*  On  the  war  of  property,  see  song  of  Maa,  Sec.  Soc,  pp.  507,  602. 
'We  fight  with  property.'  The  themes  of  opposition,  the  war  of  wealth  and 
real  war  are  found  in  speeches  made  at  the  same  potlatch  in  1895  at  Port 
Rupert.  See  Boas  and  Hunt,  in  Kwa.  T.,  I,  pp.  482,  485;  cf.  Sec.  Soc, 
pp.  668-73. 

"'  See  specially  the  myth  of  Haiyas  [Haida  Texts,  VI,  no.  83)  who  loses 
face  at  gambling  and  dies  of  it.  His  sisters  and  nephews  mourn  and  give  a 
potlatch  of  vengeance  which  resuscitates  him. 

"0  This  is  the  place  to  study  gambling  which  even  with  us  is  not  con- 
sidered contractual  but  rather  as  comprised  of  situations  in  which  honour 
is  engaged  and  where  property  is  surrendered  although  it  is  not  absolutely 
necessary  to  do  so. 

Gambling  is  a  form  of  potlatch  and  a  part  of  the  gift  system.  It  has  a 
wide  distribution  in  North-West  America.  It  is  known  to  the  Kwakiutl 
{Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  1394,  ebayu:  dice  lepa,  p.  1435,  cf.  lep,  p.  1448;  second  potlatch, 
dance;  cf.  p.  1423,  maqwacte)  but  seems  not  to  play  a  role  comparable  with 
that  among  the  Haida,  Tlingit  and  Tsimshian.  The  latter  are  inveterate 
gamblers.  See  description  of  tip-cat  among  the  Haida:  Haida,  pp.  58  ff., 
141  ff.  for  illustration  and  vocabulary;  the  same  ganie  among  the  Tlingit: 
Tlingit,  p.  443.  The  Tlingit  naq,  the  winning  piece,  is  the  same  as  the 
Haida  djil. 

Histories  have  many  legends  of  gambling  and  stories  of  chiefs  who  have 
lost  everything  by  it.  A  Tsimshian  chief  loses  even  his  children  {Tsim. 
Myth.,  p.  207).  A  Haida  legend  recounts  the  story  of  a  gambling  game 
between  Tsimshian  and  Haida;  see  Haida  T.  and  M.,  pp.  843,  847.  Etiquette 
demands  that  the  winner  allows  freedom  to  the  loser,  his  wife  and  children ; 
Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  137.  Note  the  link  with  some  Asiatic  legends.  There 
are  undoubted  Asiatic  influences  here.  On  the  distribution  of  Asiatic  games 
of  chance  in  America  see  E.  B.  Tylor's  fine  'On  American  Lot-Games,  as 
Evidence  of  Asiatic  Intercourse'  in  Festschrift  to  Bastian,  1896,  pp.  55  ff. 

^**  Davy  describes  the  themes  of  defiance  and  rivalry;  we  add  that  of 
the  wager.  See,  e.g.  Boas,  Indianische  Sagen,  pp.  203-6.  Cf.  p.  363  for  types 


102  THE    GIFT  CH.  II 

of  wager.  In  our  days  the  wager  is  a  survival,  and  although  it  engages  only 
honour  and  credit,  it  is  still  a  means  of  the  circulation  of  wealth. 

1^-  On  the  destructive  potlatch  seeFoiJuree,  p.  224.  We  add  the  following 
comments.  To  give  is  to  destroy  (cf  Sec.  Soc,  p.  334).  Some  rites  of  giving 
imply  destruction — the  rite  of  reimbursing  the  dowry,  or,  as  Boas  says,  the 
marriage  debt,  includes  the  rite  of 'sinking  the  canoe'  (ibid.,  pp.  518,  520). 
Visits  to  Haida  and  Tsimshian  potlatches  entail  destruction  of  the  visitors' 
canoes,  then  on  departure  the  hosts  hand  over  specially  fine  canoes  of  their 
own  {Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  338). 

Destruction  seems  to  be  a  superior  form  of  expenditure.  It  is  called 
'killing  property'  among  the  Tsimshian  and  Tlingit  (ibid.,  p.  334;  Tlingit, 
p.  442).  The  same  name  is  given  also  to  the  distribution  of  blankets:  'So 
my  blankets  were  lost  to  see  him';  ibid.,  p.  442. 

There  are  two  other  motifs  in  destruction  at  potlatch:  first  the  theme 
of  war:  the  potlatch  is  a  war  and  has  the  name  of  'war  dance'  among  the 
Tlingit  (ibid.,  p.  458,  cf.  p.  436).  As  in  war,  masks,  names  and  privileges 
of  the  slain  owner  may  be  seized,  so  in  the  war  of  property,  property  is 
'slain' — either  one's  own  so  that  others  may  not  get  it,  or  that  of  others  by 
means  of  giving  them  goods  which  they  will  be  obliged,  and  possibly  unable, 
to  repay.  The  other  motif  is  that  of  sacrifice.  If  property  can  be  'killed'  this 
means  it  must  be  'alive'.  A  herald  says:  'Let  our  property  remain  alive 
(under  the  attacks)  of  the  reckless  chief,  let  our  copper  remain  unbroken' ; 
Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  1285.  Perhaps  the  meanings  of  the  word  yaq,  to  lie  dead,  to 
distribute  a  potlatch,  can  be  thus  explained  {Kwa.  T.,  I,  59,  and  Eth.  Kwa., 
index). 

As  in  normal  sacrifice  the  things  destroyed  are  transmitted  to  the  clan 
ancestors.  This  is  developed  among  the  Tlingit  {Tlingit,  pp.  443,  462) 
whose  ancestors  not  only  are  present  at  the  potlatch  but  profit  from  presents 
given  to  their  living  namesakes.  Destruction  by  fire  is  characteristic.  For 
the  Tlingit  see  interesting  myth,  Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  82.  Haida,  sacrifice 
by  fire,  Haida  T.  and  M.,  pp.  28,  31,  91.  The  theme  is  less  evident  among 
the  Kwakiutl  for  whom,  nevertheless,  there  is  a  great  divinity  called 
'Sitting-on-Fire'  and  to  whom  sacrifice  is  made,  among  other  things,  of  the 
clothing  of  sick  children  to  pay  him:  Eth.  Kwa.,  pp.  705-6. 

1"  Sec.  Soc,  p.  353. 

1^*  It  seems  that  even  the  words  'exchange'  and  'sale'  are  lacking  in  the 
Kwakiutl  language.  In  Boas'  glossaries  I  found  the  word  sale  only  with 
reference  to  the  sale  of  a  copper;  but  the  bidding  entailed  is  nothing  less 
than  a  sale — a  kind  of  generosity  match.  Exchange  I  found  under  the  word 
Vay,  but  in  the  text,  Kwa.  T.,  I,  p.  77,  it  is  lised  only  with  reference  to  a 
change  of  name. 

^'^^  See  the  expression  'greedy  for  food',  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  1462;  'desirous  to 
get  wealth  quickly',  ibid.,  p.  1394;  note  the  imprecation  against  'small 
chiefs' — 'the  little  ones  who  deliberate;  the  little  hard-struggling  ones,  the 
little  ones  whom  you  have  vanquished,  who  promise  to  give  away  canoes, 
the  little  ones  to  whom  property  is  given  .  .  .  the  little  ones  who  work 
secretly  for  property  .  .  .  the  little  traitors  .  .  .'  (Property  translates  maneq, 
return  of  a  favour,  p.  1403).  Ibid.,  p.  1287,  for  another  speech  where  it  is 


CH.  II  NOTES  103 

said  of  a  chief  who  has  given  a  potlatch,  and  of  his  people  who  receive 
but  do  not  give  away:  'It  is  only  said  he  satisfied  their  hunger.  It  is  only 
said  he  made  them  vomit.  ...  It  is  just  said  he  put  them  across  his  back'; 
ibid.,  p.  1293. 

One  need  not  consider  this  as  being  bad  economics,  or  that  it  is  simply 
a  kind  of  laziness  based  on  community  in  family  life.  The  Tsimshian 
condemn  avarice  and  tell  of  their  hero  Crow  (the  creator)  how  he  was  sent 
away  by  his  father  because  he  was  greedy;  Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  260. 

^^*  'Injuria',  Melanges  Appleton;  'Magie  et  Droit  Individuel',  A.S.,  X,  28. 

^*'  One  pays  for  the  honour  of  dancing,  among  the  Tlingit  {Tlingit 
T.  and  M.,  p.  141).  There  is  payment  to  a  chief  who  composes  a  dance. 
Among  the  Tsimshian  Boas  says  that  everything  is  done  on  account  of 
honour,  and  the  wealth  and  display  of  vanity  is  outstanding;  §th  Report, 
p.  19.  Duncan,  in  Mayne,  Four  Years  in  British  Columbia,  p.  265,  says:  'for 
the  sheer  vanity  of  it'.  Much  ritual — not  only  that  of  climbing — refers  to 
this,  e.g.  that  of  'lifting  the  coppers'  among  the  Kwakiutl  {Kwa.  T.,  I, 
p.  499);  'lifting  the  spear'  {Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  117);  'lifting  the  potlatch 
pole',  the  house-beam  and  the  greasy  pole.  It  should  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  purpose  of  the  potlatch  is  to  see  which  is  the  'highest'  family  (cf. 
comments  of  chief  Katishan  on  the  myth  of  Crow,  Tlingit  T.  and  M., 
p.  119). 

^**  Tregear,  M.C.D.,  under  mana.  Here  one  might  study  the  notion  of 
wealth.  From  one  point  of  view  the  rich  man  is  one  who  has  mana  in 
Polynesia,  auctoritas  in  Rome  and  who,  in  North-West  America,  is  'large' 
— walas  {Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  1396).  All  that  is  required  is  to  show  the  connection 
between  the  notion  of  wealth,  that  of  authority — the  right  to  control  those 
to  whom  one  gives — and  the  potlatch;  and  it  is  clear  enough.  E.g.  among 
the  Kwakiutl  one  of  the  most  important  clans  is  the  Walasaka  (which  is 
the  name  of  a  family,  a  dance  and  a  fraternity).  The  name  means  'the  great 
ones  who  come  from  above',  who  distribute  potlatch:  walasila  means  not 
only  wealth  but  also  'distribution  of  blankets  on  the  occasion  of  the  sale 
of  a  copper'.  Another  metaphor  states  that  a  man  is  made  'heavy'  by  a 
potlatch  given.  Sec.  Soc,  pp.  558-9.  The  chief  is  said  to  'swallow  the  tribes' 
to  which  he  distributes  his  wealth;  he  'vomits  property',  etc. 

129^  TUngit  song  says  of  the  Crow  Phratry:  'You  are  the  ones  that 
made  the  Wolf  Phratry  valuable'  {Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  398).  In  the  two 
tribes  the  principle  is  clear  that  the  respect  and  honour  one  should  give 
ought  to  be  in  the  form  of  gifts.  Tlingit,  p.  45 1 . 

^^^  The  etiquette  concerning  the  unsolicited  gift,  to  be  received  with 
dignity,  is  well  marked  in  these  tribes.  There  are  instructive  Tsimshian, 
Kwakiutl  and  Haida  facts:  at  feasts,  chiefs  and  nobles  eat  little  while 
vassals  and  commoners  gorge  themselves:  Kwakiutl,  pp.  427,  430.  Dangers 
in  eating  much,  Tsim.  Myth.,  pp.  59,  149,  153;  singing  at  the  feast,  Kwakiutl, 
pp.  430,  437.  The  conch  shell  is  blown  so  it  will  be  known  they  are  not 
starving,  Kwa.  T.,  I,  p.  486.  The  noble  never  solicits;  the  shaman  never 
asks  for  payment,  his  'spirit'  protects  him;  Eth.  Kwa.,  pp.  731,  742;  Haida 
T.  and  M.,  pp.  238-9.  Among  the  Kwakiutl,  however,  there  is  a  dance  of 
'mendacity'. 


104  THE    GIFT  GH.  II 

"*  Tlingit  and  Haida  potlatch  has  this  principle  well  developed : 
Tlingit,  pp.  443,  462.  Note  discourse  in  Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  373.  The 
spirits  smoke  along  with  the  guests.  Cf.  p.  385:  'Here  for  you  ...  we  are 
dancing  not  we  it  is  we  are  dancing.  Long  ago  died  our  uncles  it  is  who  are 
dancing  here.'  The  guests  are  spirits,  luck-bearers,  gona'  qadet  (ibid.,  p.  119). 
We  have  here  a  confusion  of  the  two  things,  sacrifice  and  gift,  comparable 
with  the  cases  we  have  so  far  cited  (except  perhaps  the  effect  upon  nature). 
To  give  to  the  living  is  to  give  to  the  dead.  A  notable  Tlingit  tale  {Tlingit 
T.  and  M.,  p.  227)  states  that  a  resuscitated  individual  knows  if  a  potlatch 
is  given  for  him;  and  the  theme  that  spirits  reproach  the  living  for  not 
giving  a  potlatch  is  common.  The  Kwakiutl  have  the  same  ideas;  see  e.g.  a 
speech  in  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  788.  The  living  with  the  Tsimshian  represent  the 
dead;  Tate  writes  to  Boas:  Tn  some  of  these  cases  offerings  appear  rather 
in  the  form  of  presents  given  at  a  feast':  Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  452.  Page  846  for 
comparison  with  Haida,  Tlingit  and  Tsimshian. 

"'  Well  described  in  Krause,  Tlinkit  Indianer,  p.  240. 

^^^  Foi  Jurie,  pp.  171  ff.,  251  ff.  Tsimshian  and  Haida  forms  are  similar 
although  the  clan  is  more  in  evidence  in  the  former. 

"*  There  is  no  need  to  restate  Davy's  demonstration  of  the  relationship 
between  the  potlatch  and  political  status,  particularly  that  of  the  son-in-law 
and  son.  Nor  is  it  necessary  to  note  the  solidarity  value  of  the  feasts  and 
exchanges.  E.g.  the  exchange  of  canoes  by  two  spirits  means  that  they  have 
'but  one  heart',  the  one  being  the  father,  the  other  the  son-in-law;  Sec.  Soc, 
p.  387.  In  Kwa.  T.,  I,  p.  274,  is  added:  'It  was  as  if  they  had  exchanged 
names.'  Also  ibid.,  p.  23:  in  a  Nimkish  mythical  feast  (another  Kwakiutl 
tribe)  the  aim  of  the  marriage  feast  is  to  instal  the  girl  in  the  village  where 
she  will  eat  for  the  first  time. 

^^*  The  funeral  potlatch  has  been  seen  and  studied  for  the  Haida  and  the 
Tlingit ;  with  the  Tsimshian  it  is  connected  with  the  end  of  mourning,  at 
an  erection  of  the  totem  pole  and  with  cremation;  Tsim.  Myth.,  pp.  534  ff. 
Boas  makes  no  mention  of  funeral  potlatch  for  the  Kwakiutl  although  it  is 
referred  to  in  a  myth:  Kwa.  T.,  I,  p.  407. 

"*  Potlatch  to  retain  one's  right  to  an  emblem:  Haida,  p.  107.  See  story 
of  Legek,  Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  386.  Legek  is  the  name  of  the  principal  Tsimshian 
chief.  Also  ibid.,  p.  364 — stories  of  chief  Nesbalas,  another  great  Tsimshian, 
and  how  he  made  fun  of  chief  Haimas.  One  of  the  most  important  Kwa- 
kiutl chiefly  titles,  Lewikilaq,  is  Da  bend  {Kwa.  T.,  I,  p.  19;  cf.  dabendgala, 
Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  1406)  who  before  the  potlatch  has  a  name  meaning  'unable 
to  hold  firm'  and  after  the  potlatch  takes  this  name  which  means  'able  to 
hold  firm'. 

*''  A  Kwakiutl  chief  says:  'This  is  my  pride,  the  names  of  the  root  of 
my  family,  for  all  my  ancestral  chiefs  gave  away  property'  {Eth.  Kwa., 
p.  887,  cf.  p.  843). 

18  8  'Therefore  I  am  covered  in  property.  Therefore  I  am  rich.  Therefore 
I  am  a  counter  of  property',  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  1280. 

***  To  buy  a  copper  is  to  put  it  'beneath  the  name  of  the  buyer: 
Sec.  Soc,  p.  345.  Another  metaphor  states  that  the  name  of  the  giver  of  the 
potlatch  takes  on  weight  by  giving  it;  ibid.  Other  expressions  denote  the 


CH.  II  NOTES  105 

superiority  of  the  giver  over  the  donee.  There  is  the  notion  that  the  latter 
is  a  sort  of  slave  until  he  ransoms  himself.  The  Haida  say  'the  name  is  bad' 
— Haida,  p.  70;  the  Tlingit  say  that  one  puts  gifts  'on  the  backs'  of  the 
people  who  receive  them — Tlingit,  p.  428.  The  Haida  have  two  suggestive 
phrases:  to  make  one's  needle  'go'  or  'run  quickly',  meaning  apparently 
to  fight  an  inferior;  Haida,  p.  162. 

^*''  See  story  of  Haimas,  how  he  loses  his  liberty,  privileges,  masks,  his 
auxiliary  spirits,  family  and  property;  Tsim.  Myth.,  pp.  361-2. 

^*^  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  805;  Hunt,  Boas's  Kwakiutl  informant,  writes:  'I  do 
not  know  why  the  chief  .  .  .  Maxuyalidze  (i.e.  potlatch-giver)  never  gave 
a  feast.  That  is  all  about  this.  He  is  called  q'elsem  (that  is  "rotten  face"), 
one  who  gives  no  feast.' 

^**  In  fact  the  potlatch  is  a  dangerous  thing  if  one  receives  from  it  or 
if  one  does  not  give  one.  People  attending  a  mythical  potlatch  died  of  it 
{Haida  Texts,  p.  626;  cf.  p.  667,  same  myth  from  the  Tsimshian).  Com- 
parisons in  Boas,  Indianische  Sagen,  p.  356.  It  is  dangerous  to  participate  in 
the  food  of  one  who  gives  a  potlatch  or  to  take  part  in  a  potlatch  of  the 
spirits  in  the  world  below.  See  a  Kwakiutl  (Awikenoq)  legend,  ibid.,  p.  329. 
See  also  the  fire  myth  of  Crow  who  draws  food  from  his  flesh:  Ctatloq, 
ibid.,  p.  76;  Nootka,  ibid.,  p.  106.  Cf.  Tsim.  Myth.,  pp.  694-5. 

"^  Potlatch  is  a  game  and  a  trial;  e.g.  a  trial  consists  in  not  hiccuping 
during  the  feast — rather  die  than  that,  they  say.  Kwakiutl,  p.  428.  See  a 
form  of  challenge :  'Let  us  try  to  have  (our  dishes)  emptied  by  our  guests' 
{Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  991).  There  is  no  clear  distinction  between  the  meanings 
'to  give  food',  'to  return  food'  and  'to  take  vengeance'  (ibid.,  glossary  under 
yenesa  Sind  yenka). 

^**  We  noted  above  the  equivalence  of  potlatch  and  war.  A  knife  on 
the  end  of  a  stick  is  a  symbol  of  the  Kwakiutl  potlatch,  Kwa.  T,  1,  p.  483. 
With  the  Tlingit  it  is  a  raised  spear  (Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  1 17).  See  Tlingit 
potlatch  compensation  rites :  war  of  the  people  of  Kloo  against  the  Tsim- 
shian, ibid.,  pp.  432-3;  dances  of  enslavement;  and  a  potlatch  without 
dancing,  for  a  case  of  murder. 

^**  Ritual  faults  of  the  Kwakiutl:  see  Sec.  Soc,  pp.  433,  507.  Expiation 
consists  of  giving  a  potlatch  or  at  least  a  gift. 

This  is  a  most  important  point  in  all  these  societies.  Distribution  of 
wealth  has  the  role  of  payment  of  a  fine  or  propitiation  of  spirits  and 
re-establishment  of  solidarity  between  spirits  and  men.  P^re  Lambert, 
Mccurs  des  Sauvages  Neo-Caledoniens,  p.  66,  noted  with  the  Kanak  the  right 
of  uterine  relatives  to  indemnity  if  one  of  them  loses  blood  in  his  father's 
family.  Among  the  Tsimshian  it  is  exactly  the  same:  Duncan,  in  Mayne, 
Four  Years  in  British  Columbia,  p.  264,  cf.  p.  296.  The  Maori  muru  is  probably 
comparable. 

Potlatch  for  the  ransom  of  captives  is  to  be  interpreted  in  the  same  way. 
It  is  not  only  to  regain  its  captured  members  but  also  to  re-establish  the 
'name'  that  the  family  gives  a  potlatch.  See  story  of  Dzebasa,  Tsim.  Myth., 
p.  388.  The  Tlingit  have  the  same :  Krause,  Tlinkit  Indianer,  p.  245 ;  Porter, 
Jith  Census,  p.  54;  Tlingit,  p.  449. 

Kwakiutl  potlatches  to  expiate  ritual  faults  are  common.  Note  potlatch 


I06  THE    GIFT  CH.  II 

of  expiation  for  parents  of  twins  who  are  going  to  work,  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  691. 
A  potlatch  is  due  to  your  father-in-law  to  regain  a  wife  who  has  left  you; 
see  glossary,  ibid.,  p.  1423.  If  a  chief  wants  an  occasion  to  give  a  potlatch 
he  may  send  his  wife  back  to  her  father  as  a  pretext;  3th  Report,  p.  42. 

^*^  A  long  list  of  these  obligations,  at  feasts,  after  fishing,  collecting 
fruits,  hunting  or  opening  preserved  food  is  given  in  Eth.  Kwa.,  pp.  757  ff. 
Cf.  p.  607  for  etiquette. 

^*' See  Tsim.  Myth.,  pp.  439,  512;  cf.  p.  534  for  payment  of  services. 
Kwakiutl  example:  payment  to  keeper  of  blankets.  Sec.  Soc,  pp.  614,  629. 

14  8  Payments  to  relatives:  Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  534;  cf.  Foi  Jurie.  p.  196, 
for  opposed  systems  among  Tlingit  and  Haida,  and  division  of  potlatch  by 
families. 

1**  A  Masset  Haida  myth  {Haida  Texts,  X,  pt.  2,  no.  43)  recounts  how 
an  old  chief  does  not  give  enough  potlatches ;  others  leave  off  inviting  him, 
he  dies  of  it,  his  nephews  make  an  image  of  him  and  give  ten  feasts  in 
his  name,  and  he  is  bom  again.  In  another  myth,  ibid.,  p.  722,  a  spirit 
addresses  a  chief:  'Thy  property  is  too  much.  Potlatch  very  soon.'  He  builds 
a  house  and  pays  the  builders.  In  another  myth,  ibid.,  p.  723,  a  chief  says: 
'I  will  not  keep  a  part  of  the  property  for  myself.'  And  later:  'I  will  potlatch 
ten  times.' 

^^o  On  the  manner  in  which  the  clans  regularly  confront  each  other 
see  Sec.  Soc,  p.  343  and  Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  497.  In  phratry  societies  this 
naturally  happens;  cf.  Haida,  p.  162 ;  Tlingit,  p.  424.  The  principle  is  shown 
well  in  the  myth  of  Crow,  Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  1 15. 

^*^  The  Tlingit  have  a  remarkable  expression :  guests  are  said  to  'float', 
their  canoes  'wander  about  on  the  sea',  the  totem  pole  they  bring  is  'adrift' ; 
and  it  is  the  invitation  to  the  potlatch  that  halts  them  {Tlingit  T.  and  M., 
pp.  394-5).  One  of  the  common  titles  of  Kwakiutl  chiefs  is  'Towards  whom 
one  paddles',  'The  Place  where  one  comes';  e.g.  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  187. 

^^*  The  offence  of  neglecting  someone  means  that  the  relatives  abstain 
from  attending  the  potlatch.  In  a  Tsimshian  myth  the  spirits  do  not  come 
if  the  Great  Spirit  is  not  invited;  Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  277.  A  story  tells  how  the 
great  chief  Nesbalas  was  not  invited  and  the  other  Tsimshian  chiefs  stayed 
away,  ibid.,  p.  357. 

Note  the  frequent  assertion — common  also  in  European  and  Asiatic 
folklore — of  the  danger  in  not  inviting  orphans,  foundlings  and  poor 
relatives,  e.g.  Indianische  Sagen,  pp.  301,  303;  Tsim.  Myth.,  pp.  292,  295, 
where  a  beggar  is  the  totem  or  totemic  god.  Cf.  Boas,  ibid.,  pp.  784  ff. 

Of  course  one  does  not  invite  those  who  do  not  give  feasts  or  who  have 
no  feast  names:  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  707.  Those  who  do  not  return  a  potlatch, 
ibid.,  glossary  under  waya  and  wayapo  lela. 

The  offence  also  has  political  consequences,  e.g.  a  Tlingit  potlatch 
with  Athabascans  from  the  East:  Tlingit,  p.  435;  cf.  Tlingit  T.  and  M., 
p.  117. 

^"  Tsim.  Myth.,  pp.  170-1. 

^'*  Actually  Boas  puts  this  sentence  from  Tate's  text  in  a  note  but  the 
moral  of  the  myth  should  not  be  separated  from  the  myth  itself. 

"*  Cf,  Tsimshian  myth  of  Negunaks,  ibid.,  p.  287  and  notes  p.  846. 


CH.  II  NOTES  107 

"•E.g.  the  invitation  to  the  blackcurrant  feast;  the  herald  says:  *We 
come  back  to  call  you,  the  only  one  (who  has  not  come  yet)';  Eth.  Kwa., 

P-  752. 

"'  Sec.  Soc,  p.  543. 

188  With  the  Tlingit,  guests  who  have  waited  two  years  before  coming 
to  a  potlatch  to  which  they  had  been  invited  are  'women'.  Tlingit  T.  and 
M.,  p.  119. 

"^  Sec.  Soc,  p.  345.  With  the  Kwakiutl  one  is  obliged  to  attend  the 
whale  feast  although  the  oil  may  make  one  sick:  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  1046;  cf. 
p.  1048,  'try  to  eat  everything'. 

•*"  Thus  sometimes  guests  are  invited  in  fear,  for  should  they  reject  the 
invitation  they  would  be  showing  themselves  superior.  A  Kwakiutl  chief 
tells  a  Koskimo  chief  (same  nation) :  'Do  not  refuse  my  friendly  invitation 
as  I  will  be  ashamed,  do  not  reject  my  wishes.  ...  I  am  not  one  of  those 
that  pretend,  that  give  only  to  those  that  will  buy  (i.e.  will  give).  There,  my 
friend.'  Sec.  Soc,  p.  546. 

1"  Ibid.,  p.  355. 

"*  See  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  774  for  another  description  of  the  oil  and  salal 
berry  feast ;  it  is  Hunt's  and  appears  to  be  very  good ;  it  seems  also  that  this 
ritual  is  employed  when  one  is  giving  out  neither  invitations  nor  gifts.  A 
rite  of  the  same  kind  to  spite  a  rival  has  songs  and  drumming  (ibid.,  p.  770) 
as  with  the  Eskimo. 

^*^  A  Haida  phrase  is:  'You  do  the  same.  Show  me  some  good  food.' 
Haida  Texts,  X,  685;  Kwakiutl,  Eth.  Kwa.,  pp.  738,  767;  p.  770  story  of 
Polelasa. 

^•*  Songs  of  dissatisfaction,  Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  396,  nos.  26,  29. 

^**  Tsimshian  chiefs  usually  send  a  messenger  to  examine  presents 
brought  by  potlatch  guests:  Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  184,  cf.  pp.  430,  434.  According 
to  a  capitulary  of  the  year  803  there  was  a  similar  functionary  at  the  court 
of  Charlemagne. 

"'  The  Tlingit  myth  of  Crow  tells  how  he  is  absent  from  a  feast  because 
the  opposite  phratry  is  noisy  and  has  overstepped  the  centre  line  which, 
in  the  dancing  house,  should  separate  them.  Crow  fears  they  are  invincible ; 
Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  118.  The  inequality  resulting  from  acceptance  is  well 
shown  in  Kwakiutl  discourses:  Sec.  Soc,  pp.  355,  667,  669. 

"'  E.g.  Tlingit,  pp.  440-1. 

19  8  With  the  Tlingit  a  ritual  enables  a  host  to  force  upon  his  guest 
acceptance  of  his  gift.  The  dissatisfied  guest  makes  a  show  of  departing. 
The  host  offers  him  double  and  mentions  the  name  of  a  dead  relative; 
Tlingit,  p.  442.  This  is  probably  connected  with  the  quality  which  the 
parties  have  of  representing  their  ancestral  spirits. 

"'  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  1281 :  'The  chiefs  of  the  tribes  never  return  (feasts)  .  .  . 
they  disgrace  themselves,  and  you  rise  as  head  chief  over  those  who  have 
disgraced  themselves.' 

^""^  See  speech  on  the  potlatch  of  the  great  chief  Legek,  Tsim.  Myth., 
p.  386.  The  Haida  are  told:  'You  shall  be  the  last  one  among  the 
chiefs,  for  you  are  not  able  to  throw  away  coppers  like  the  high  chief  has 
done.' 


I08  THE    GIFT  CH.  II 

"^  The  ideal  is  to  give  a  potlatch  which  is  not  returned.  Cf.  'You  wish 
to  give  away  property  that  is  not  to  be  returned';  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  1282.  One 
who  has  given  a  potlatch  is  compared  to  a  tree  or  a  mountain:  'I  am  the 
only  great  tree,  I  the  chief.  You  here  are  right  under  me.  .  .  .  You  surround 
me  hke  a  fence.  ...  I  am  the  first  to  give  you  property' — ibid.,  p.  1290. 
'Raise  the  unattainable  potlatch-pole,  for  this  is  the  only  thick  tree,  the 
only  thick  root.'  The  Haida  use  a  spear  metaphor.  Those  who  accept  'live 
on  the  chief's  spear' — Haida  Texts,  p.  486. 

^'*  Note  the  story  of  an  insult  for  a  bad  potlatch,  Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  314. 
The  Tsimshian  never  forget  the  two  coppers  owing  to  them  by  the 
Wutsenaluk,  ibid.,  p.  364. 

^'*  The  name  remains  'broken'  so  long  as  a  copper  of  equivalent  value 
to  that  of  the  challenge  is  not  broken;  Sec.  Soc,  p.  543. 

^'*  When  a  man  thus  discredited  borrows  the  means  to  make  a  necessary 
redistribution,  he  is  said  to  'pledge  his  name'  or  to  'sell  a  slave';  Sec.  Soc, 
p.  341;  cf.  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  1451;  p.  1424  under  kelgelgend ;  cf  p.  1420. 

^'*  Peace  ritual  of  the  Haida,  Tsimshian  and  Tlingit  consists  of  presta- 
tions with  immediate  counter-prestations — exchanges  of  decorated  coppers 
and  hostages — women  and  slaves.  E.g.  in  the  Tsimshian  war  against  the 
Haida  {Haida  T.  and  M.,  p.  395) :  'They  had  women  on  each  side  marry 
the  opposites,  because  they  feared  they  would  be  angry  again.  Now  there 
was  peace.'   In  a  Haida-Tlingit  war  there  is  a  compensation  potlatch, 

p.  396. 

*"  Tsim.  Myth.,  pp.  511-12. 

^"  {Kwakiutl) :  a  property  distribution  in  both  directions.  Boas,  Sec.  Soc, 
p.  418;  repayment  the  following  year  of  fines  for  ritual  faults,  p.  596; 
usurious  repayment  of  bridewealth,  ibid.,  pp.  365-6,  518-20,  563. 

^^*  The  Tsimshian  language  distinguishes  between  the  yaok,  the  great 
inter-tribal  potlatch  {Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  537;  cf.  pp.  511,  968;  wrongly  trans- 
lated as  'potlatch')  and  the  others.  Haida  distinguishes  between  walgal  and 
sitka  {Haida,  pp.  35,  68,  178-9 — funerary  and  other  potlatches).  The 
common  Kwakiutl  and  Chinook  word  pola  (to  seize)  seems  to  mean  not 
potlatch  so  much  as  the  feast  or  its  effect  {Kwa.  T.,  I,  p.  21 1).  Polos  means 
the  man  who  gives  a  feast  {Kwa.  T.,  H,  pp.  43,  79)  and  also  the  place 
where  one  is  seized  (legend  of  the  title  of  one  of  the  Dzawadaenoxu  chiefs). 
Cf.  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  770.  The  commonest  word  in  Kwakiutl  is  /)'«,  to  flatten 
(a  rival's  name) — Eth.  Kwa.,  glossary.  The  inter-tribal  potlatches  seem  to 
have  a  special  name,  maxwa  {Kwa.  T,  I,  p.  451);  somewhat  improbably 
Boas  derives  from  the  root  ma  two  other  words,  mawil,  initiation  room,  and 
the  name  for  the  ore  {Eth.  Kwa.  glossary).  In  fact  Kwakiutl  has  a  number 
of  technical  terms  for  all  kinds  of  potlatch,  payments  and  repayments  (or 
rather  gifts  and  counter-gifts),  on  marriages,  to  shamans,  for  advances, 
unpaid  interest,  etc.;  e.g.  men{a),  pick  up,  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  218,  a  small  potlatch 
in  which  a  girl's  clothing  is  thrown  to  the  people  for  them  to  pick  up: 
payol,  to  give  a  copper;  there. is  a  different  term  for  giving  a  canoe;  ibid., 
p.  1448.  The  terms  are  numerous,  unstable  and  overlapping. 

^'*  See  Barbeau,  'Le  Potlatch',  Bulletin  de  la  Sociiti  Geographique  de  Qjiebec, 
191 1,  p.  278. 


CH.  II  NOTES  109 

^"*  In  Tsimshian  the  distinction  between  property  and  possessions  is 
very  clear.  In  Tsim.  Myth.,  Boas  says:  'While  the  possession  of  what  is 
called  rich  food  was  essential  for  maintaining  the  dignity  of  the  family, 
the  provisions  themselves  were  not  counted  as  constituting  wealth.  Wealth 
is  obtained  by  selling  provisions  for  other  kinds  of  goods,  which,  after  they 
have  been  accumulated,  are  distributed  in  the  potlatch.' — p.  435. 

Kwakiutl  distinguish  in  the  same  way  between  simple  provisions  and 
property- wealth.  Property  and  wealth  are  equivalent.  Property  has  two 
terms,:  ydq  or  ydq;  Eth.  Kwa.,  glossary,  p.  1393  {ci.  ydqu,  to  distribute). 
This  word  has  two  derivatives,  yeqala,  property,  and  yaxulu,  talismans, 
paraphernalia;  cf.  words  derived  from^a,  ibid.,  p.  1406.  The  other  word 
is  dadekas,  cf.  Kwa.  T.,  I,  p.  519,  cf.  p.  433;  in  Newettee  dialect,  daoma, 
dedemala  [Eth.  Kwa.,  glossary).  The  root  of  this  word  is  da.  The  meaning 
of  this  root  is  curiously  like  that  of  the  identical  Indo-European  radical 
meaning  to  receive,  take,  accept  in  hand,  handle,  etc.  Of  the  derived 
words  one  means  'to  take  a  piece  of  one's  enemy's  clothing  to  bewitch 
him',  and  the  other  'to  take  in  one's  hand',  'to  put  in  the  house'  (see  later 
on  meanings  of  manus  and  familia),  with  reference  to  blankets  given  in 
advance  for  the  purchase  of  coppers,  to  be  returned  with  interest ;  another 
word  means  'to  put  blankets  on  one's  adversary's  heap'.  An  even  stranger 
derivative  is  dadeka,  'to  be  jealous  of  each  other'  {Kwa.  T.,  I,  p.  133). 
Clearly  the  original  meaning  must  be :  the  thing  which  one  takes  and  which 
makes  one  jealous ;  cf.  dadego,  to  fight — doubtless  to  fight  with  property. 

Other  words  have  the  same  meanings,  but  more  precisely,  e.g.  mamekas, 
property  in  the  house,  Kwa.  T.,  I,  p.  169. 

^^^  Eth.  Kwa.,  pp.  706  ff.  There  is  hardly  anything  morally  and  materially 
valuable  (we  purposely  do  not  say  'useful')  which  is  not  subject  to  beliefs 
of  this  kind.  'Moral'  things  are  goods  and  property  which  are  the  object 
of  gifts  and  exchanges.  E.g.  just  as  in  more  primitive  civilisations,  such  as 
the  Australian,  so  with  the  Tlingit;  after  the  potlatch  one  'leaves'  a  dance 
in  exchange  to  those  who  gave  the  potlatch — Tlingit,  p.  442.  The  Tiingit 
property  which  is  most  inviolable  and  gives  rise  to  the  greatest  jealousy  is 
the  name  and  the  totemic  emblem,  ibid.,  p.  416;  these  it  is  which  make 
one  happy  and  rich. 

Totemic  emblems,  feasts  and  potlatches,  names  won  in  potlatches, 
presents  which  others  must  return  to  you  as  a  result  of  potlatches  given, 
these  all  follow.  E.g.  Kwakiutl :  'And  now  my  feast  goes  to  him'  (meaning 
son-in-law) — Sec.  Soc,  p.  356. 

With  the  Tsimshian  decorated  dance  and  parade  masks  and  hats  are 
called  'a  certain  amount  of  property  following  the  amount  given  at  a 
potlatch'  (following  gifts  made  by  maternal  aunts  of  the  chief  to  the  'women 
of  the  tribe'):  Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  541. 

Inversely,  as  with  the  Kwakiutl,  things  are  conceived  in  moral  terms, 
especially  precious  objects  like  essential  talismans,  the  'giver  of  death' 
{lalayu),  the  'water  of  life' — these  are  apparently  quartz  crystals — blankets, 
etc.  In  a  curious  Kwakiutl  saying  they  are  identified  with  the  grandfather: 
naturally  enough,  since  they  are  given  to  the  son-in-law  only  to  be  trans- 
mitted later  to  the  grandson:  Sec.  Soc,  p.  507. 


no  THE    GIFT  GH.  II 

^"The  myth  of  Djilqons  in  Haida,  pp.  92,  95,  171.  The  Masset  version 
appears  in  Haida  Texts,  pp.  94,  98 ;  and  the  Skidegate  in  Haida  T.  and  M., 
p.  458.  His  name  is  included  in  some  Haida  family  names  of  the  Eagle 
phratry;  see  Haida,  pp.  282-3.  The  name  of  the  goddess  of  Fortune  is  Skil 
{Haida  Texts,  pp.  306,  665).  Cf.  the  bird  Skil,  Skirl  {Haida,  p.  120).  Skiltagos 
means  copper-property  and  the  fabulous  tale  of  the  way  coppers  are  found 
is  connected  with  this  name,  cf.  p.  146,  Fig.  4.  A  carved  pole  represents 
Djilqada,  his  copper,  pole  and  emblems;  p.  125. 

The  real  title  of  Skil  (ibid.,  p.  92)  is  'property  making  a  noise'.  She 
has  four  supplementary  names,  ibid.,  p.  95.  She  has  a  son  called  'Sides  of 
Stone'  (in  reality  copper,  ibid.,  pp.  no,  112).  Whoever  meets  her  and  her 
children  is  lucky  in  gambling.  She  has  a  magic  plant  and  to  eat  it  brings 
wealth;  likewise  one  becomes  rich  by  touching  her  blanket.  One  of  her 
names  is  'Property  remaining  in  the  House'.  Many  people  have  names 
which  include  hers:  'Attendant  on  Skil',  'The  Way  to  Skil'.  See  Haida 
genealogies  E  13,  E  14;  and  in  the  Crow  Phratry,  R  14,  15,  16.  She  seems 
to  be  the  antithesis  of  the  'Plague  Woman'  {Haida  T.  and  M.,  p.  299). 

***  The  whole  myth  is  given  in  Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  pp.  173,  292,  368; 
cf.  Tlingit,  p.  460.  At  Sitka  Skil  is  doubtless  Lenaxxidek.  This  is  a  woman 
who  has  a  child ;  the  child  is  heard  suckling,  and  is  followed.  If  it  scratches 
then  pieces  from  the  scars  formed  can  make  others  happy. 

i**The  Tsimshian  myth  is  incomplete:  Tsim.  Myth.,  pp.  154,  192.  Cf 
Boas's  notes,  ibid.,  pp.  746,  760.  Although  Boas  did  not  notice  the  identity 
it  is  clear.  The  Tsimshian  goddess  wears  a  'garment  of  wealth'. 

18*  Maybe  the  myth  of  Qominoqa,  the  'rich  woman',  has  the  same  origin. 
She  seems  to  be  the  object  of  a  cult  reserved  for  certain  Kwakiutl  clans ; 
e.g.  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  862.  AQoexsotenoq  hero  has  the  title  'Body  of  Stone'  and 
becomes  'Property  on  the  Body';  Kwa.  T.  I,  p.  187. 

^**  E.g.  myth  of  the  Ore  Clan :  Boas,  Handbook  of  American  Languages, 
Vol.  I,  pp.  554-9-  The  founder-hero  of  the  clan  is  himself  a  member  of  the 
Ore  Clan:  'I  am  trying  to  get  a  magical  treasure  from  you'  he  says  to  a 
spirit  whom  he  meets,  which  has  a  human  shape  but  yet  is  an  ore — p.  557. 
The  spirit  recognizes  him  as  a  clansman  and  gives  him  the  copper-tipped 
whale-killing  harpoon  (omitted  from  text;  ores  are  killer  whales).  It  gives 
him  also  its  potlatch-name.  His  name,  it  says,  is  'Place  of  getting  Satiated, 
and  your  house  with  a  killer  whale  (painting)  on  the  front  will  be  your 
house;  and  your  dish  will  be  a  killer-whale  dish;  and  the  death-bringer 
and  the  water  of  life  and  the  quartz-edged  knife,  which  is  to  be  your 
butcher-knife  (shall  be  yours).' 

^*'  A  wonderful  box  containing  a  whale,  which  gave  its  name  to  a  hero, 
was  called  'Wealth  from  the  Shore',  Sec.  Soc,  p.  374.  Cf.  'Property  drifting 
towards  me',  ibid.,  pp.  247,  414.  Property  'makes  a  noise'  (see  above).  The 
title  of  one  of  the  principal  Masset  chiefs  is  'He  whose  Property  makes  a 
noise',  Haida  Texts,  p.  684.  Property  lives  (Lwakinol) :  'May  our  property 
remain  alive  by  his  efforts,  may  our  copper  remain  unbroken',  sing  the 
Maamtagila,  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  1285. 

18*  Family  possessions  that  circulate  among  men  and  their  daughters 
and  sons-in-law  and  return  to  the  sons  when  newly  initiated  or  married 


CH.  II  NOTES  I  I  I 

are  usually  kept  in  a  box  or  trunk  adorned  with  emblems,  whose  design, 
construction  and  use  are  characteristic  of  these  civilizations — from  the 
Californian  Yurok  to  the  tribes  of  the  Behring  Straits.  Usually  the  box  is 
decorated  with  figures  or  eyes  of  the  totems  or  spirits  whose  effects  it 
contains — decorated  blankets,  'death'  and  'life'  charms,  masks,  hats, 
crowns  and  bow.  Myths  often  confuse  the  spirit  with  the  box  and  its 
contents;  e.g.  Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  173:  the  gonaqadet  is  identified  with  the 
box,  the  copper,  hat  and  bell  rattle.  Its  transfer  at  initiation  makes  the 
recipient  a  'supernatural'  being — shaman,  magician,  nobleman,  owner  of 
dances  or  seats  in  a  fraternity.  See  family  histories  in  Eth.  Kwa.,  pp.  965-6, 
cf.  p.  1012. 

The  box  is  always  mysterious  and  kept  secretly  in  the  house.  There  may 
be  a  number  of  boxes  each  in  turn  containing  a  smaller  one.  For  Haida 
see  Haida  Texts,  p.  395.  It  contains  such  spirits  as  the  'Mouse  Woman' 
[Haida  T.  and  M.,  p.  340),  or  the  Crow  that  pecks  the  eyes  of  an  unlawful 
possessor.  See  Tsim.  Myth.,  pp.  851,  854.  The  myth  of  the  sun  enclosed  in 
a  floating  box  is  widespread  (ibid.,  pp.  549,  641).  These  myths  are  known 
also  from  the  ancient  world. 

A  common  episode  of  legends  of  heroes  is  that  of  the  small  box  con- 
taining a  whale  which  only  the  hero  is  able  to  lift:  Sec.  Soc,  p.  374  and 
Kwa.  T.  II,  p.  171 ;  its  food  is  inexhaustible — ibid.,  p.  223.  The  box  is  alive, 
and  floats  in  the  air  through  its  own  vitality — Sec.  Soc,  p.  374.  The  box 
of  Katlian  brings  wealth — Tlingit,  pp.  446,  448.  The  talismans  it  contains 
have  to  be  fed.  One  of  them  contains  a  spirit  'too  strong  to  be  appropriated', 
whose  mask  kills  the  bearer  {Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  341). 

The  names  of  these  boxes  refer  sometimes  to  their  use  at  a  potlatch.  A 
large  Haida  box  of  fat  is  the  'mother'  {Haida  Texts,  p.  758) .  The  red-bot- 
tomed box  (the  sun)  distributes  water  on  to  the  'sea  of  tribes' — the  water 
being  the  blankets  which  a  chief  distributes;  Sec.  Soc,  p.  551. 

The  mythology  of  the  magic  box  is  characteristic  also  of  Asiatic  societies 
of  the  North  Pacific.  There  is  a  good  comparable  example  in  Pilsudski, 
Material  for  the  Study  of  the  Ainu  Languages,  Cracow,  19 13,  pp.  124-5.  The 
box  is  given  by  a  bear  and  the  hero  has  taboos  to  observe ;  it  is  full  of  gold 
and  silver  objects,  wealth-giving  talismans.  The  design  of  the  box  is  the 
same  here  also. 

^8'  Family  possessions  are  individually  named  among  the  Haida — 
Swanton,  Haida,  p.  117 ; — houses,  doors,  dishes,  carved  spoons,  canoes, 
salmon  traps.  Cf.  the  expression  'continuous  chain  of  possessions' — ibid., 
p.  15.  We  have  a  list  of  objects  named  by  the  Kwakiutl  by  clans  in  addition 
to  the  variable  titles  of  nobles,  men  and  women,  and  their  privileges — 
dances,  etc.,  which  are  also  possessions.  The  things  we  call  movables  and 
which  are  personified  are  dishes,  the  house,  dog  and  canoe;  Eth.  Kwa., 
pp.  793  ff".  Hunt  forgot  coppers,  abalone  shells  and  doors  from  the  list. 
Spoons  threaded  to  a  cord  on  a  kind  of  decorated  canoe  are  called  'anchor- 
lines'  of  spoons.  Sec.  Soc,  p.  422.  Among  the  Tsimshian,  canoes,  coppers, 
spoons,  stone  pots,  stone  knives  and  plates  of  chieftainesses  are  named: 
Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  506. 

^•'  The  only  domestic  animal  in  these  tribes  is  the  dog.  It  is  named 


112  THE    GIFT  CH.  II 

according  to  the  clan  and  cannot  be  sold.  'They  are  men  like  us'  say  the 
Kwakiutl  {Eih.  Kwa.,  p.  1260).  They  'guard  the  family'  against  sorcery 
and  attacks  of  enemies.  A  myth  tells  how  a  Koskimo  chief  and  his  dog 
Waned  change  places  and  use  the  same  name,  ibid.,  p.  835.  Cf.  the  fantastic 
myth  of  the  four  dogs  of  Lewiqilaqu,  Kwa.  T.  I,  pp.  18,  20. 

^•*  'Abalone'  is  the  Chinook  word  for  the  large  haliotis  shells  used  as 
nose  and  ear  ornaments  {Kwakiutl,  p.  484;  and  Haida,  p.  146).  They  are 
also  used  on  decorated  blankets,  belts  and  hats,  e.g.  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  1069. 
Among  the  Awekinoq  and  Lasiqoala  (Kwakiutl  group)  abalone  shells  are 
set  into  a  shield  of  strangely  European  design;  5th  Report,  p.  43.  This  kind 
of  shield  is  akin  to  the  copper  shield  which  also  has  a  suggestion  of  the 
Middle  Ages. 

Abalone  shells  were  probably  used  as  a  kind  of  currency  in  the  way 
that  coppers  are  used  now.  A  Ctatloq  myth  (South  Salish)  associates  the 
two  persons  K'okois,  Copper  and  Teadjas,  Abalone ;  their  son  and  daughter 
marry  and  the  grandson  takes  the  'metal  box'  of  the  bear,  and  appropriates 
his  mask  and  potlatch :  Indianische  Sagen,  p.  84.  An  Awikenoq  myth  connects 
shell  names,  like  copper  names,  with  the  'Daughters  of  the  Moon',  ibid., 
pp.  218-9. 

Among  the  Haida  these  shells — the  famous  and  valuable  ones  at  least 
— have  their  own  names  as  in  Melanesia:  Swanton,  Haida,  p.  146.  They 
are  also  used  for  naming  people  or  spirits,  e.g.  index  of  proper  names  in 
Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  960.  Cf.  'abalone  names'  by  clans  in  Eth.  Kwa.,  pp.  1261-75 
for  the  tribes  Awikenoq,  Naqoatok  and  Gwasela.  This  custom  was  wide- 
spread. The  abalone  box  of  the  Bella  Coola  is  itself  mentioned  and  described 
in  the  Awikenoq  myth;  moreover,  it  contains  the  abalone  blanket,  and 
both  are  as  bright  as  the  sun.  The  chief  whose  myth  contains  the  story  is 
Legek — Indianische  Sagen,  pp.  2 1 8  ff.  This  is  the  title  of  the  principal 
Tsimshian  chief  It  would  appear  that  the  myth  has  travelled  along  with 
the  thing  itself.  In  the  Masset  Haida  myth,  'Crow  the  Creator',  the  sun 
which  he  gives  his  wife  is  an  abalone  shell:  Haida  Texts,  pp.  227,  313. 
Names  of  mythical  heroes  with  abalone  titles  in  Kwa.  T.  I,  pp.  50,  222, 
etc.  With  the  Tlingit  the  shells  were  identified  with  sharks'  teeth:  Tlingit 
T.  and  M.,  p.  129  (cf.  use  of  cachalot  teeth  in  Melanesia). 

All  these  tribes  have  in  addition  dentalia  necklaces  (see  Krause,  Tlinkit 
Indianer,  p.  186).  Thus  we  find  here  the  same  kinds  of  money,  with  the 
same  kinds  of  belief  and  the  same  customs  as  in  Melanesia  and  the  Pacific 
in  general. 

These  shells  were  the  object  of  trade  by  the  Russians  during  their 
occupation  of  Alaska — trade  which  extended  from  the  Gulf  of  California 
to  the  Behring  Straits:  see  Haida  Texts,  p.  313. 

^•*  Blankets  like  boxes  become  the  object  of  legends.  Their  designs  are 
even  copied  on  boxes  {Tlinkit  Indianer,  p.  200).  There  is  always  something 
mystical  about  them:  cf  Haida  'spirit  belts' — torn  blankets  {Haida,  pp. 
165,  174).  Some  mythical  cloaks  are  'cloaks  of  the  world'  {Indianische  Sagen, 
p.  248).  Cf.  the  talking  mat  in  Haida  Texts,  pp.  430,432.  The  cult  of  blankets, 
mats  and  hide  coverings  should  be  compared  with  the  Polynesian  cult  of 
decorated  mats. 


GH.  II  NOTES  113 

1*^  It  is  admitted  with  the  Tlingit  that  everything  in  the  house  speaks, 
that  spirits  talk  to  the  posts  and  beams  of  the  house,  and  that  the  latter 
also  talk  and  that  conversations  are  held  between  the  totemic  animals, 
the  spirits,  men  and  things  of  the  house ;  this  is  a  regular  feature  of  Tlingit 
religion.  See  Tlingit,  pp.  458-9.  The  Kwakiutl  house  hears  and  speaks — 
Etk.  Kwa.,  p.  1279. 

^'*  The  house  is  considered  as  personal  property  as  it  was  for  a  long 
time  in  Germanic  law.  See  the  many  myths  about  the  'magic  house*  built 
in  the  winking  of  an  eye,  usually  given  by  a  grandfather  {Tsim.  Myth., 
pp.  852-3).  For  Kwakiutl  examples  see  Sec.  Soc,  pp.  376,  380. 

196  Valuable  objects,  being  at  the  same  time  of  magical  and  religious 
value — eagle  feathers,  often  identified  with  rain,  food,  quartz  and  good 
medicines;  e.g.  Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  385;  Haida  Texts,  p.  292:  walking 
sticks  and  combs;  Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  385;  Haida,  p.  38;  Kwakiutl, 
p.  455:  bracelets,  e.g.  Lower  Frazer  tribe,  Indianische  Sagen,  p.  36;  Kwakiutl, 
p.  454.  All  these  things,  spoons,  dishes  and  coppers  have  the  generic 
Kwakiutl  name  of  logwa  which  means  talisman,  supernatural  thing  (cf. 
our  'Origines  de  la  Notion  de  la  Monnaie'  and  the  preface  of  our 
Milange  d'Histoire  des  Religions).  The  notion  of  logwa  is  precisely  that  of 
mana.  For  our  purpose  it  is  the  'virtue'  of  wealth  and  food  which  produces 
wealth  and  food.  A  discourse  on  the  logwa  calls  it  'the  great  past  augmenter 
of  property'  {Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  1280).  A  myth  tells  how  a  logwa  was  good  at 
acquiring  property,  how  four  logwa  gathered  to  it.  One  of  them  was  called 
'Making  Property  accumulate':  Kwa.  T.  I,  p.  108.  In  short,  wealth  begets 
wealth.  A  saying  of  the  Haida  speaks  of  'property  which  enriches'  with 
reference  to  the  abalone  shells  worn  by  girls  at  puberty :  Haida,  p.  48. 

*'*  One  mask  is  called  'Obtaining  Food'.  Cf. :  'and  you  will  be  rich  in 
food'  (Nimkish  myth,  Kwa.  T.  I,  p.  36).  An  important  Kwakiutl  noble  has 
the  titles  'The  Inviter',  'Giver  of  Food',  and  'Giver  of  Eagle  Down';  Sec. 
Soc,  p.  415. 

The  decorated  baskets  and  boxes  (e.g.  those  used  for  the  berry  crop) 
are  likewise  magical;  see  e.g.  a  Haida  myth  in  Haida  Texts,  p.  404;  the 
important  myth  of  Q,als  confuses  pike,  salmon  and  the  thunder-bird  and 
a  basket  of  berries  seized  from  the  bird  (Lower  Frazer  River,  Indianische 
Sagen,  p.  34);  equivalent  Awikenoq  myth,  ^th  Report,  p.  28;  one  basket  is 
called  'Never  Empty'. 

••'  Each  dish  is  named  according  to  the  carving  on  it.  With  the  Kwa- 
kiutl the  carvings  represent  'animal  chiefs'.  One  is  'The  dish  which  remains 
full' — Boas,  Kwakiutl  Tribes  (Columbia  University),  p.  264.  Those  of  a 
certain  clan  are  logwa;  they  have  spoken  to  an  ancestor,  'Inviter',  and  have 
told  him  to  take  them:  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  809.  Cf  the  myth  of  Kaniqilaku, 
Indianische  Sagen,  p.  198.  Cf.  Kwa.  T.  II,  p.  205 ;  how  a  plaguing  father-in-law 
is  given  berries  to  eat  from  a  magic  basket.  They  turn  into  brambles  and 
issue  from  all  parts  of  his  body. 

^**This  German  expression  was  used  by  Krickeberg,  It  describes  the 
use  of  these  shields  exactly ;  for  they  are  at  the  same  time  pieces  of  money 
and  objects  of  display  carried  in  the  potlatch  by  chiefs  or  those  to  whose 
profit  the  potlatch  is  given. 


I  14  THE    GIFT  CH.  II 

^*'  Although  it  has  been  widely  discussed  the  copper  industry  of  North- 
West  America  is  not  well  known.  Rivet  in  his  notable  work  'Orf^vrerie 
Precolombienne',  Journal  des  Amiricanistes,  1923,  left  it  out  intentionally. 
It  seems  certain  that  the  art  was  there  before  the  arrival  of  the  Europeans. 
The  northern  tribes,  Tlingit  and  Tsimshian,  sought,  worked  or  received 
the  native  copper  from  the  Copper  River.  Cf.  Indian  authors  and  Krause, 
Tlinkit  Indianer,  p.  186.  All  these  tribes  speak  of  a  'great  copper  mountain': 
Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  160;  Haida,  p.  130;  Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  299. 

^*"'  Copper  is  alive:  its  mine  and  mountains  are  magical,  covered  with 
wealth-giving  plants:  Haida  Texts,  pp.  681,  692;  Haida,  p.  146.  It  has  a 
smell;  Kwa.  T.  1,  p.  64.  The  privilege  of  working  copper  is  the  object  of 
an  important  cycle  of  Tsimshian  legends:  myths  of  Tsanda  and  Gao, 
Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  306.  For  list  of  equivalent  themes  see  ibid.,  p.  856.  Copper 
seems  to  be  personified  with  the  Bella  Coola — Indianische  Sagen,  p.  261. 
Cf.  Boas,  'Mythology  of  the  Bella  Coola  Indians',  J. N.P.E.,  Vol.  I,  pt.  2, 
p.  71,  where  the  myth  of  copper  is  associated  with  the  myth  of  abalone. 

^"^  Since  it  is  red,  copper  is  identified  with  the  sun:  Tlingit  T.  and  M., 
nos.  39,  81 ;  with  'fire  from  the  sky',  which  is  the  name  of  a  copper,  and  with 
salmon.  This  identification  is  specially  clear  in  the  cult  of  twins  among  the 
Kwakiutl,  Eth.  Kwa.,  pp.  685  ff.  The  sequence  seems  to  be:  springtime, 
arrival  of  salmon,  new  sun,  red  colour,  copper.  The  identity  of  salmon  and 
copper  is  more  characteristic  of  the  northern  nations  {Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  856). 
E.g.  Haida  Texts,  pp.  689,  691,  692;  here  the  myth  is  like  that  of  the  ring 
of  Polycratus;  the  salmon  swallows  copper  {Haida  T.  and  M.,  p.  82).  The 
Tlingit  have  the  myth  of  the  being  called  Mouldy-End  (the  name  of  a 
salmon) ;  see  myth  of  Sitka;  chains  of  copper  and  salmon  {Tlingit  T.  and  M., 
p.  307).  A  salmon  in  a  box  becomes  a  man;  another  version,  ibid.,  no.  5. 
See  Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  857.  A  Tsimshian  copper  is  'Copper  going  upstream', 
a  clear  allusion  to  salmon. 

It  would  be  worth  while  investigating  the  relationship  between  the 
copper  and  quartz  cults — see  myth  of  the  quartz  mountain,  Kwa.  T.  II, 
p.  III.  In  the  same  way  the  jade  cult — at  least  with  the  Tlingit — could  be 
related  to  the  copper  cult;  a  jade  salmon  speaks  {Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  5); 
a  jade  stone  speaks  and  gives  names,  Sitka,  ibid.,  p.  416.  And  note  of  course 
the  association  of  the  shell  cult  and  copper. 

^"^  The  family  of  Tsanda  among  the  Tsimshian  seems  to  be  the  founder 
of  copper  and  to  have  its  secrets.  Possibly  the  Kwakiutl  myth  of  the  princely 
family  of  Dzawadaenoqu  is  of  the  same  sort.  It  brings  together  Laqwagila 
the  maker  of  copper,  Qomqomgila  the  rich  man  and  Qpmoqoa  the  rich 
woman  who  makes  coppers;  and  links  them  to  the  white  bird  (sun),  son 
of  the  thunder-bird,  who  smells  of  copper,  turns  himself  into  a  woman  and 
gives  birth  to  twins  who  smell  of  copper  {Kwa.  T.  I,  pp.  61-7). 

The  Awikenoq  myth  about  ancestors  and  nobles  who  have  the  same 
title  'Maker  of  Copper'  is  less  interesting. 

^"^  Each  copper  has  a  name.  Kwakiutl  speak  of  'great  coppers  with 
names' — Sec.  Soc,  pp.  348-50.  We  know  quite  a  bit  about  the  names  of 
the  great  Kwakiutl  coppers.  They  refer  to  the  cults  and  beliefs  attached  to 
them.  One  is  'Moon'  (Nisqa  tribe,  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  856),  others  have  the 


CH.  II  NOTES  115 

name  of  the  spirit  they  incarnate  and  which  gave  them,  e.g.  the  Dzonoqoa, 
ibid.,  p.  142 1.  Others  have  names  of  spirits  who  founded  totems:  one  copper 
is  'Beaver  Face',  ibid.,  p.  1427,  another,  'Sea  Lion',  ibid.,  p.  894.  Other 
names  allude  to  the  shape,  e.g.  'T-shaped  Copper',  or  'Long  Upper  Portion', 
ibid.,  p.  862.  Others  are  called  simply  'Great  Copper',  'Noisy  Copper'  (also 
a  chief's  name).  The  name  of  the  Maxtoselen  copper  is  'That  of  which 
they  are  ashamed'.  'They  are  ashamed  of  their  debts'  {Kwa.  T.  I,  p.  452; 
'Quarrel  Maker'  {Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  893). 

Most  Tlingit  copper  names  are  totemic  {Tlingit,  pp.  405,  421).  Of 
Haida  and  Tsimshian  names,  we  know  only  of  those  which  are  the  same 
as  the  names  of  the  chiefs  who  own  them. 

^"^  The  value  of  Tlingit  coppers  varies  according  to  their  size  and  used 
to  be  measured  in  slaves;  Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  pp.  131,  260,  337.  Boas  studied 
the  way  in  which  each  copper  gains  in  value  through  a  series  of  potlatches ; 
e.g.  the  value  of  the  copper  Lesaxalayo  about  1906-10  was  9000  woollen 
blankets  each  worth  about  $4,  50  canoes,  6000  blankets  with  buttons,  260 
silver  bracelets,  60  gold  bracelets,  70  gold  ear-rings,  40  sewing  machines, 
25  gramophones,  50  masks;  and  the  herald  said:  'Now  he  will  give  these 
poor  things  to  you,  tribes'.  {Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  1352.  A  copper  is  also  compared 
here  to  the  'body  of  a  whale'.) 

^"^  The  destruction  of  coppers  seems  to  have  been  carried  out  in  a 
special  way.  Among  the  Kwakiutl  it  is  done  piecemeal,  a  part  being  broken 
with  each  potlatch.  At  later  potlatches  one  tries  to  regain  the  broken 
portions  for  they  may  be  riveted  on  to  the  copper  again — which  then 
grows  in  value;  Sec.  Soc,  p.  334.  In  any  case  to  spend  or  break  them  is  to 
'kill'  them,  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  12B5.  The  common  expression  is  'to  throw  them 
into  the  sea':  also  in  Tlingit  {Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  pp.  63,  399).  If  the  coppers 
do  not  sink  or  die  they  are  wooden — they  float  {Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  369). 
Broken,  they  are  said  to  have  'died  on  the  shore'  {Sec.  Soc,  p.  564). 

2"®  The  Kwakiutl  have  two  kinds  of  coppers:  the  more  important  which 
do  not  leave  the  family  and  which  one  can  break  only  to  refounder,  and 
others  which  circulate  intact,  of  less  value  and,  as  it  were,  satellites  of  the 
former  (ibid.,  pp.  564,  579).  The  possession  of  these  secondary  coppers 
probably  corresponds  to  possession  of  those  noble  titles  and  ranks  of  second 
order  with  which  they  travel  from  chief  to  chief,  family  to  family,  and 
between  generations  and  sexes;  while  the  big  coppers  and  titles  remain 
within  clans  and  tribes. 

^*"  A  Haida  myth  on  the  potlatch  of  chief  Hayas  tells  how  a  copper 
sings :  'But  that  thing  is  bad.  .  .  .  Stop  Gamsiwa  (the  name  of  a  town  and 
a  hero);  there  are  many  coppers'  {Haida  Texts,  p.  760).  A  'little  copper' 
becomes  'big'  of  its  own  accord  and  others  crowd  around  it.  In  a  child's 
song  {Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  1312)  'the  coppers  with  great  names  of  the  great  chiefs 
of  the  tribes  will  gather  around  it'.  The  coppers  are  said  to  'fall  by  them- 
selves into  the  chief's  hand'.  They  'meet  in  the  house',  they  are  the  'flat 
objects  that  collect  there'  (ibid.,  p.  701). 

*"*  Cf.  the  myth  of  'Bringer  of  Coppers'  in  the  myth  of  'Inviter'  (Qoex- 
sot'enox),  Kwa.  T  I,  p.  248.  The  same  copper  is  'Bringer  of  Property',  Sec. 
Soc,  p.  415.  The  secret  song  of  the  nobleman  'Inviter'  runs:  'My  name 
9 


Il6  THE    GIFT  CH.  II 

will  be  "Property  coming  towards  me"  because  of  my  "Bringer  of  Property". 
Choppers  come  towards  me  because  of  my  "Bringer  of  Coppers".' 

'"*  E.g.  Tlingit  T.  and  M.,  p.  379;  a  Tsimshian  copper  is  called  a  'shield', 
Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  385.  In  a  text  on  the  donation  of  coppers  in  honour  of  a 
newly  initiated  son,  the  coppers  are  given  an  armour  of  property  {Sec.  Soc, 
p.  557 — allusion  to  coppers  huqg  round  the  neck).  The  youth's  name  is 
Yaqois,  'Bearer  of  Property'. 

*!<•  An  important  rite  at  the  puberty  seclusion  of  Kwakiutl  princesses 
shows  these  beliefs.  They  wear  coppers  and  abalone  shells,  and  themselves 
take  copper-names.  It  is  said  that  they  and  their  husbands  will  easily  get 
coppers,  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  701.  'Coppers  in  the  House'  is  the  title  of  the  sister 
of  an  Awikenoq  hero,  Kwa.  T.  I,  p.  430.  A  Kwakiutl  noble  girl's  song 
runs:  'I  am  seated  on  coppers  .  .  .  my  belt  has  been  woven  by  my  mother, 
and  I  use  it  when  I  look  after  the  dishes  that  will  be  given  as  my  marriage 
payment.  .  .  .'  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  13 14. 

*"  Coppers  are  often  identified  with  spirits ;  cf.  the  well-known  theme 
of  the  animated  shield  and  emblem.  Identity  of  copper  with  Dzonoqoa  and 
Qominoqa,  ibid.,  pp.  142 1,  860.  Coppers  are  totemic  animals,  Tsim.  Myth., 
p.  460.  In  other  cases  they  are  attributes  of  mythical  animals:  'Copper 
Deer'  and  the  'Copper  Antlers'  play  a  role  in  Kwakiutl  summer  festivals: 
Sec.  Soc,  pp.  630-1 ;  cf  p.  729:  'Greatness  on  his  Body'.  Tsimshian  consider 
coppers  as  'the  hair  of  spirits' — ibid.,  p.  326 — as  'excrement  of  spirits' — 
Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  387.  Coppers  are  used  in  a  potlatch  given  among  spirits, 
ibid.,  p.  285.  Coppers  'please  them',  ibid.,  p.  846.  Cf.  the  song  of  Neqa- 
penkem:  'I  am  pieces  of  copper,  and  the  chiefs  of  the  tribes  are  broken 
coppers':  Sec.  Soc,  p.  482. 

^"  The  copper  Dandalayu  'grunts  in  the  house'  to  be  given  away, 
ibid.,  p.  622.  The  copper  Maxtoslem  'complains  of  not  being  broken'.  The 
blankets  with  which  it  is  paid  for  keep  it  warm.  The  name  means  'which 
other  coppers  are  ashamed  to  look  upon'.  Another  copper  takes  part  in  a 
potlatch  and  'is  ashamed',  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  882.  A  Haida  copper,  Haida  Texts, 
p.  689,  belonging  to  chief  'He  whose  property  makes  a  noise'  sings  after 
being  broken:  'I  will  decay  here,  I  took  away  many  people  (to  death 
through  the  potlatch).' 

"^^  The  two  rites  of  the  giver  and  receiver  being  buried  under  and 
walking  over  blankets  are  equivalent;  one  is  above  or  beneath  one's 
wealth. 

*^*  General  observation :  We  know  how,  why  and  during  what  cere- 
monies expenditure  and  destruction  take  place  in  North-West  America, 
but  it  is  not  always  clear  exactly  how  the  transfer  of  things — especially 
coppers — takes  place.  This  question  should  be  studied.  The  little  we  do 
know  is  interesting  and  shows  the  bond  between  property  and  its  owner. 
The  cession  of  a  copper  is  'to  put  the  copper  in  the  shadow  of  the  name' 
and  its  acquisition  'gives  weight'  to  the  new  owner  {Sec.  Soc,  p.  349).  With 
the  Haida  to  show  that  one  is  buying  a  piece  of  land  one  lifts  a  copper 
{Haida  T.  and  M.,  p.  86) ;  also  one  beats  people  to  whom  one  gives  them  as 
in  the  story,  ibid.,  p.  432.  Things  touched  by  the  copper  are  annexed  to 
it,  killed  by  it. 


CH.  Ill  NOTES  117 

In  at  least  one  myth  the  Kwakiutl  (Sec.  Soc,  pp.  383-5)  retain  the 
memory  of  a  transmission  rite  found  also  among  the  Eskimo;  the  hero  bites 
everything  he  gives  away.  The  Moiise  Woman  'licks'  what  she  gives  [Haida 
Texts,  p.  191). 

'"  In  the  marriage  rite  of  breaking  the  symbolic  canoe,  there  is  this 
song: 

'I  am  going  to  break  Mount  Stevens  to  pieces,  I  shall  make  stones  for 
my  fire 

I  am  going  to  break  Mount  Q,atsai  to  pieces,  I  shall  make  stones  for 
my  fire 

Wealth  is  on  its  way  to  him  from  the  great  chiefs 

Wealth  is  on  its  way  to  him  from  all  sides 

All  the  big  chiefs  will  be  protected  by  him.' 
*^'  With  the  Kwakiutl  these  are  normally  identical.  Certain  nobles  are 
identified  with  their  potlatch.  The  principal  chief's  main  title  is  Maxwa, 
meaning  'great  potlatch',  Eth.  Kwa.,  p.  972.  In  the  same  clan  are  the  names 
'Giver  of  Potlatches',  etc.  In  another  Kwakiutl  tribe,  the  Dzawadeenoxu, 
one  of  the  main  titles  is  Polas.  The  principal  chief  of  the  Heiltsuq  is  in 
relations  with  the  spirit  Qominoqa,  the  rich  woman  and  has  the  name 
'Maker  of  Wealth',  Eth.  Kwa.,  pp.  424,  427.  Qaqtsenoqu  princes  have 
'summer  names' — clan  names  made  up  of  the  word  'property' — e.g. 
'Property  of  the  Body',  'Great  Property',  'Place  of  Property',  Kwa.  T.  I, 
p.  191.  The  Naqoatoq  Kwakiutl  give  their  chief  the  titles  Maxwa  and 
Yaxlem  ('Property') ;  this  name  figures  in  the  myth  of 'Body  of  Stone'.  The 
spirit  says:  'Your  name  will  be  Property',  ibid.,  p.  215.  Also  with  the  Haida 
a  chief  has  the  name  'That  which  cannot  be  bought',  Haida,  p.  294.  The 
same  chief  is  also  'Everything  Mixed',  i.e.  a  potlatch  assembly,  ibid. 


Chapter  III 

*  Meillet,  H.  Ldvy-Bruhl  and  Huvelin  contributed  invaluable  sugges- 
tions for  the  passage  that  follows. 

*  Outside  the  hypothetical  reconstruction  of  the  Twelve  Tables  and  some 
laws  preserved  as  inscriptions,  our  sources  for  the  first  four  centuries  of 
Roman  law  are  very  poor.  We  do  not,  however,  adopt  the  hypercritical 
attitude  of  Lambert  in  'L'Histoire  traditionelle  des  Douzes  Tables', 
Milanges  AppUton,  1906.  Nevertheless,  many  of  the  theories  of  Romanists 
and  Roman  antiquaries  should  still  be  treated  as  hypotheses.  It  might  even 
be  permitted  liS  to  add  another  hypothesis  to  the  list. 

*  On  the  nexum  see  Huvelin,  'Nexum'  in  Dictionnaire  des  Antiquaires ; 
'Magie  et  Droit  individuels',  .^4.5'.,  X,  and  his  analyses  and  discussions  in 
A.S.,  VII,  472  ff.;  IX,  412  ff.;  XI,  442  ff.;  XII,  482  ff.;  Foi  Jurie,  p.  135; 
bibliography  and  theories  of  Romanists,  see  Giraud,  Manuel  elimentaire  de 
Droit  Romain,  7th  edn.,  p.  354. 

Huvelin  and  Giraud  appear  to  hold  close  to  the  truth.  However,  the 
injury  clause  {Magie  et  Droit,  p.  28,  cf  'Injuria',  Melanges  Appleton)  is  in 
our  opinion  not  solely  magic.  It  is  a  clear  case,  a  trace,  of  former  potlatch 


Il8  THE    GIFT  CH.  Ill 

rules.  The  fact  that  the  one  is  a  debtor  and  the  other  a  creditor  allows  the 
one  thus  in  a  position  of  superiority  to  injure  his  opponent,  the  man  who 
is  under  an  obligation  to  him:  hence  a  series  of  joking  relationships  to  which 
we  drew  attention  in  A.S.,  New  Series,  I,  particularly  in  the  Winnebago 
tribe. 

*  Huvelin,  Magie  et  Droit. 

^  On  wadiatio,  see  Davy,  A.S.,  XII,  522-3. 

*  Our  rendering  of  the  word  slips  is  based  on  that  of  Isidore  de  Seville. 
See  Huvelin,  Slips,  Slipulatio  {Melanges  Fadda,  1906) ;  Giraud,  Manuel,  p.  507, 
following  Sevigny,  holds  the  texts  of  Varro  and  Festus  against  such  a  purely 
metaphorical  representation.  Festus  having  spoken  of  stipulus  and  firmus 
mentions  in  a  sentence  in  part  missing,  '(?)  defixus\  possibly  a  stick  fixed 
in  the  ground ;  cf.  throwing  a  stick  at  the  sale  of  land  in  contracts  of  the 
Hammurabi  period  in  Babylon,  see  Cuq,  in  JVouvelle  Revue  Historique  de 
Droit,  1910,  p.  407. 

'  See  Huvelin  in  A.S.,  X,  33. 

*  We  do  not  propose  to  enter  the  discussions  of  Romanists,  but  we 
would  add  a  few  observations  to  those  of  Huvelin  and  Giraud  on  the  nexum. 
(i)  The  word  is  derived  from  neclere  upon  which  Festus  has  preserved  one 
of  the  rare  documents  of  the  Pontifices  which  have  survived:  Napuras 
slramentis  neclilo.  The  document  alludes  to  the  taboo  on  property  indicated 
by  knots  made  in  straw.  Thus  the  thing  tradila  was  itself  marked  and  tied 
and  came  to  the  accipiens  with  this  mark  on  it.  Thus  it  would  bind  him. 
(2)  The  person  who  becomes  nexus  is  the  receiver,  accipiens.  Now  the  rite  of 
the  nexum  supposes  he  is  emplus,  usually  translated  as  'bought'.  But  emptus 
really  means  acceplus.  The  person  who  has  received  the  thing  is  not  only 
bought,  but  received  also,  by  the  loan,  because  he  has  received  the  thing 
and  because  he  has  received  the  copper  ingot  which  the  loan  gives  him  as 
well  as  the  thing  itself.  There  is  discussion  whether  there  is  damnatio, 
tnancipatio,  etc.  in  the  transaction  {Manuel,  p.  503).  Without  entering  into 
the  argument  we  state  our  opinion  that  these  terms  are  more  or  less  syno- 
nymous. Cf.  expressions  nexo  mancipioque  and  emit  mancipioque  accepit  of  the 
inscriptions  (sale  of  slaves) .  There  is  no  difficulty  in  holding  this  opinion 
since  the  fact  of  accepting  a  thing  from  someone  makes  you  obliged  to  him : 
damnalus,  emptus,  nexus.  (3)  It  seems  that  the  Romanists — and  Huvelin — 
have  not  paid  enough  attention  to  a  formal  detail  of  the  nexum — what 
happens  to  the  brass  ingot,  the  aes  nexum  so  much  discussed  in  Festus.  At 
the  establishment  of  the  nexum  this  bar  is  given  by  the  donor  to  the  recipient. 
But,  we  believe,  when  the  latter  freed  himself  he  does  so  not  only  by  making 
the  promised  prestation  or  by  giving  over  the  object  or  its  price,  but,  more 
important,  with  the  same  scales  and  the  same  witnesses  he  returns  the  same 
bar  to  his  creditor.  Thus  he  buys  it  and  receives  it  in  its  turn.  This  rite  of 
the  solutio  of  the  nexum  is  well  described  in  Gaius,  III,  174.  Since  in  an 
immediate  sale  the  two  actions  happened  as  it  were  at  the  same  time  or 
with  a  very  small  interval,  the 'double  symbol  was  less  noticeable  than  in  a 
credit  sale  or  in  the  case  of  a  loan ;  hence  it  passed  unnoticed.  But  it  was 
there  all  the  same.  If  our  interpretation  is  correct  there  is,  in  addition  to 
the  nexum  from  the  object  of  sale,  another  nexum  deriving  from  this  ingot 


GH.  Ill  NOTES  119 

given  and  received,  and  weighed  in  the  same  scales  by  the  two  contractors. 
(4)  Let  us  suppose,  moreover,  we  can  imagine  a  Roman  contract  before 
the  time  of  bronze  money  or  the  weighed  ingot  or  even  the  piece  of  copper 
in  the  form  of  a  cow  {aesflatum) ;  we  know  that  the  first  Roman  money  was 
coined  by  the  gentes  in  the  form  of  cattle  (probably  as  tokens  representing 
the  cattle  of  these  gentes) .  Let  us  suppose  a  sale  where  the  price  is  paid  in 
real  or  imaginary  cattle.  We  then  realize  that  the  handing  over  of  this 
cattle-price  or  its  equivalent  brought  the  buyer  and  seller  together;  as  in 
each  sale  or  transfer  of  cattle  the  person  who  acquires  them  remains  for 
some  time  in  contact  with  the  person  who  ceded  them. 

'  Varro,  De  Re  Rustica,  II,  i,  15. 

^°  On  familia  see  Digest,  L,  XVI,  de  verb,  sign.,  no.  195,  para.  i.  'Familiae 
appellatio  .  .  .  et  in  res,  at  in  personas  diducitur  .  .  .'  (Ulpian).  Until  late 
in  Roman  law  the  action  of  the  division  of  inheritance  is  called  familiae 
erciscundae,  Digest,  XI,  II,  and  the  Code,  III,  XXXVIII.  Inversely  res 
equals  familia ;  Twelve  Tables,  V,  3,  'super  pecunia  tutelave  suae  rei'.  Cf. 
Giraud,  Textes  de  Droit  remain,  p.  86g;  Cuq,  Institutions,  I,  37.  Gains,  II,  224 
reproduces  this  text:  'super  familia  pecuniaque'.  Familia  equals  res  and 
substantia — cf  Code  (Justinian)  VI,  XXX,  5.  Cf.  familia  rustica  et  urbana, 
Digest,  L,  XVI,  de  verb,  sign.,  no.  166. 

^^  Cicero,  De  Orat.,  56:  pro  Caecina,  VII.  Terence,  'decern  dierum  vix 
mihi  est  familia'. 

^*  Walde,  p.  70.  Although  Walde  hesitates  over  the  proposed  etymology, 
there  is  no  need.  The  principal  res,  the  real  mancipium  of  the  familia  is  the 
mancipium  slave  whose  other  name,  famulus,  has  the  same  etymology  as 
familia. 

^^  On  the  distinction  yamjVia  pecuniaque  attested  by  the  sacratae  leges  and 
by  numerous  texts,  see  Giraud,  Textes,  p.  841 .  It  is  certain  the  nomenclature 
was  not  very  definite,  yet  contrary  to  Giraud  we  believe  that  originally  there 
was  a  clear  distinction.  The  distinction  is  found  in  the  Oscan  fame lo  in  eituo 
{Lex  Bantia,  1.  13). 

^*  This  distinction  did  not  disappear  from  Roman  law  until  a.d.  532 
when  it  was  expressly  abrogated. 

^*  On  mancipatio  see  later.  The  fact  that  it  was  necessary,  or  at  least 
licit,  until  so  late  a  date  shows  how  difficult  it  was  for  the  familia  to  do 
without  res  mancipi. 

^'  On  this  etymology  see  Walde,  p.  650.  Cf.  rayih,  property,  valuable 
thing,  talisman.  Cf.  Avestic  rae,  rayyi,  same  meanings;  cf.  old  Irish  rath, 
gracious  gift. 

^'  The  Oscan  word  for  res  is  egmo,  cf.  Lex  Bantia.  Walde  connects  egmo 
with  egere,  the  thing  one  lacks.  Possibly  ancient  Italic  languages  had  two 
corresponding  and  antithetical  words  meaning  a  thing  which  one  gives 
and  which  gives  pleasure  {res)  and  the  thing  lacked  and  which  one  expects 
{egmo). 

^*  See  Huvelin,  'Furtum'  {Melanges  Girard),  pp.  159-75. 

^*  Expression  of  a  very  old  law,  lex  Atinia,  XVII,  7:  'Quod  subruptum 
erit  ejus  rei  aeterna  auctoritas  est.'  Cf.  Ulpian  III,  4  and  6.  Cf.  Huvelin, 
Magie  et  Droit,  p.  19. 


I20  THE    GIFT  CH.  Ill 

*"  With  the  Haida  the  victim  of  a  theft  places  a  dish  before  the  thief's 
door  and  the  thing  returns. 

■*  Giraud,  Manuel,  p.  265.  Cf  Digest,  XIX,  IV,  de  Permut. :  'permutatio 
autem  ex  re  tradita  initium  obligationi  praebat.' 

**  Mod.  Regul.  in  Digest,  XLIV,  VII,  de  Obi.  et  act.,  52,  're  obUgamur 
cum  res  ipsa  intercedit.' 

"Justinian,  Code  VIII,  LVI. 

"  Paul,  Digest,  XLI,  1-3 1. 

"  Code  II,  III,  de  Pactis  20. 

*•  On  the  meaning  of  reus,  guilty,  responsible,  see  Mommsen,  Romisches 
Strafrecht,  3rd  edn.,  p.  189.  The  classic  interpretation  comes  from  a  sort  of 
historical  a-priorism  which  makes  public  personal  law  and  in  particular 
criminal  law  the  primitive  form  of  law,  and  which  sees  real  law  and  con- 
tracts as  modern  refinements. 

Reus  belongs  to  the  language  of  religion  (v.  Wissowa,  Religion  und 
Kultus  der  Romer,  p.  320)  no  less  than  to  the  language  of  law:  voti  reus  {Aeneid, 
V,  327)  'reus  qui  voto  se  numinibus  obligat'  {Servius  ad  Aen.,  IV,  699).  The 
equivalent  of  reus  is  voti  damnatus  (Virgil,  Eclogues,  V,  i ,  80) ;  and  this  is 
suggestive  since  damnatus  equals  nexus.  A  person  who  makes  a  vow  is  in  the 
same  position  as  one  who  has  promised  or  received  a  thing.  Until  he  is 
acquitted  he  is  damnatus. 

^''  Indo-Germanische  FoTschungen,  XIV,  131. 

*•  Walde,  p.  651  at  reus.  This  is  the  interpretation  of  Roman  lawyers 
themselves  (Cicero,  de  Orat.  II,  183,  'Rei  omnes  quorum  de  re  disceptatur') ; 
they  all  implied  by  res  an  affair  present  to  the  mind.  It  is  reminiscent  of  the 
Twelve  Tables,  II,  2,  where  rem  does  not  mean  simply  the  accused,  but  both 
parties  in  any  action — the  actor  and  the  reus  of  later  procedures.  Festus 
commenting  on  the  Twelve  Tables  cites  two  very  early  jurisconsults  on  the 
subject.  Cf.  Ulpian,  Digest,  II,  XI,  2,  3,  'alterutur  ex  litigatoribus'. 

2'  To  the  very  early  Roman  jurisconsults  cited  by  Festus  reus  still  means 
a  person  responsible  for,  made  responsible  by,  something. 

*•  In  the  Lex  Bantia  in  Oscan  minstreis  equals  minoris  partis  (1.  19),  the 
party  which  fails  in  the  action.  The  meaning  of  these  terms  was  not  lost  in 
Italic  dialects. 

*^  Romanists  seem  to  put  the  distinction  between  mancipatio  and  emptio 
venditio  too  early.  It  is  unlikely  that  at  the  time  of  the  Twelve  Tables,  or 
even  for  some  time  after  that,  there  were  contracts  of  sale  which  were  pure 
consensual  contracts  as  they  later  became  at  a  period  one  can  date  roughly 
as  being  that  of  Q.  M.  Scaevola.  The  Twelve  Tables  use  the  phrase  'venum 
dunif  to  mean  the  most  dignified  sale  possible  and  which  could  certainly 
be  made  only  by  means  of  mancipatio — the  sale  of  a  son.  For  things  mancipi 
at  this  period  sale  was  exclusively  by  means  of  mancipatio  and  our  terms 
were  thus  synonymous.  The  Ancients  retained  a  memory  of  this  identity; 
see  PomponiuSj  Digest  XL,  VII,  de  statu  liberis:  'Quoniam  Lex  XII  T. 
emtionis  verbo  omnem  alienationem  complexa  videatur'.  On  the  other 
hand,  for  a  long  period  the  word  mancipatio  meant  acts  which  are  pure 
consensual  contracts  like  Jiducia,  with  which  it  is  occasionally  confused. 


CH.  Ill  NOTES  121 

See  Giraud,  Manuel,  p.  545.  No  doubt  mancipatio,  mancipium  and  nexum 
were,  at  a  very  early  date,  used  indifferently. 

Nevertheless,  while  noting  the  synonymity,  we  consider  in  what  follows 
only  mancipatio  of  those  res  which  form  part  of  the  familia  and  we  depart 
from  the  principle  given  by  Ulpian,  XIX,  3:  'Mancipatio  .  .  .  propria 
alienatio  rerum  mancipi.' 

'*  For  Varro  emptio  means  mancipatio:  II,  i,  15;  2,  5;  5,  11;  10,  4. 

'^  It  may  be  that  this  traditio  was  accompanied  by  rites  like  those  in  the 
formality  of  manumissio,  the  liberation  of  a  slave  who  purchases  his  own 
freedom.  We  are  ill  informed  on  the  behaviour  of  the  two  parties  to  manci- 
patio. It  is  remarkable  that  the  formula  of  manumissio  is  basically  the  same 
as  that  of  the  emptio  venditio  of  cattle.  Perhaps  after  taking  up  the  thing  to 
be  handed  over  the  tiadens  hit  it  with  the  palm  of  his  hand.  Cf.  vus  rave — 
the  rap  given  to  a  pig  (Banks  Is.,  Melanesia),  and  the  slap  given  in  European 
fairs  to  the  cruppers  of  cattle  sold.  We  would  not  risk  these  hypotheses  if 
the  texts  (particularly  Gaius)  were  not  full  of  gaps  which  will  probably  be 
filled  later  by  the  discovery  of  more  manuscripts.  Note  also  that  this  rite 
is  identical  with  the  beating  of  Haida  coppers. 

'*  Cuq,  Institutions  Juridiques  des  Remains,  Vol.  II,  p.  454. 

^*  The  stipulatio,  the  exchange  of  two  pieces  of  a  stick,  corresponding  to 
former  pledges  and  supplementary  gifts. 

"  Festus,  at  manumissio. 

'^  Varro,  de  re  rustica,  2,  i,  15;  2,  v,  11:  sanis,  noxis  salutos,  etc. 

'*  Note  also  the  expressions  mutui  datio,  etc.  The  Romans  had  only  one 
word  dare  to  express  all  the  actions  implied  in  traditio. 

"  Walde,  p.  253. 

"  Digest,  XVIII,  I,  33. 

*i  On  words  of  this  kind  see  Ernout,  'Credo-Craddha'  {Milanges  Sylvain 
Levi,  191 1):  another  case  of  identity  between  Italo-Celtic  and  Indo- 
Iranian  vocabularies.  Note  the  archaic  form  of  all  these  words. 

*^  See  Walde,  vendere.  Perhaps  the  very  old  term  licitatio  is  a  reminder 
that  war  and  sale  are  equivalent:  'licitati  in  mercando  sive  pugnando 
contendentes'  says  Festus  at  licitati:  cf.  Tlingit  and  Kwakiutl  'war  of 
property'. 

*^  We  have  not  given  enough  attention  to  Greek  law  or  the  law  which 
preceded  the  great  Ionic  and  Doric  codifications,  so  we  cannot  say  whether 
or  not  the  various  peoples  of  Greece  knew  these  rules  of  the  gift.  It  would 
be  necessary  to  review  a  complete  literature,  but  we  can  mention  one  point 
at  present:  Aristotle,  Nicomachean  Ethics,  1123,  refers  to  the  magnanimous 
citizen,  his  public  and  private  expenses,  his  duties  and  resp>onsibilities,  and 
mentions  reception  of  strangers,  embassies,  kol  Scupea?  koI  amriScopeds, 
how  they  expend  els  ra  Koivd;  and  he  adds  to.  8e  bwpa  toi?  dvaOijfiaaLv 
l;^et  Tt  ofioLov — gifts  have  some  analogy  with  consecrations. 

Two  other  living  Indo-European  systems  of  law  present  this  kind  of 
institution,  Albanian  and  Ossetian.  We  simply  make  mention  here  of  the 
modern  law3  or  decrees  prohibiting  or  limiting,  among  these  jjeople, 
excessive  waste  on  occasions  of  marriage,  death,  etc. :  Kovalewski,  Coutume 
contemporaine  et  Lot  ancienne,  p.  187. 


122  THEGIFT  CH.  Ill 

Most  forms  of  contract  are  attested  to  on  Aramaic  papyri  of  the  Jews 
of  Philae  in  Egypt,  fifth  century  B.C.  See  Cowley,  Aramaic  Papyri,  Oxford, 
1923.  Note  also  work  of  Ungnad  on  Babylonian  contracts  (see  Huvelin, 
A.S.,  XII,  p.  108  and  Cuq,  'Etudes  sur  les  Contrats  .  .  .',  Nouvelle  Revue  de 
VHistoire  du  Droit,  19 10. 

**  Ancient  Hindu  law  is  known  to  us  through  two  collections  published 
late  in  comparison  with  the  rest  of  the  scriptures.  The  oldest  series  is 
Dharmasutra  which  Biihler  dates  anterior  to  Buddhism  ('Sacred  Laws'  in 
Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  intro.).  But  it  may  be  that  some  of  the  sutras,  or 
the  period  in  which  they  were  founded,  were  post-Buddhic.  In  any  case 
they  are  a  part  of  the  Hindu  Cruti,  Revelation.  The  other  series  is  the 
Smrti,  the  Tradition,  or  the  Dharmacastra :  Books  of  the  Law  in  which  the 
most  important  is  the  famous  Manu  code  which  is  slightly  later  than  the 
sutras. 

We  prefer  to  use  a  long  epic  document  which,  in  Brahminic  tradition, 
has  the  value  of  Smrti  and  Castra.  The  Anuc.  is  more  explicit  on  gift  customs 
than  the  law  books.  Moreover,  it  has  equal  authority  and  the  same  inspira- 
tion. It  seems  to  have  the  same  tradition  of  the  Brahminic  school  of  the 
Manava  as  that  upon  which  the  Manu  code  itself  is  based  (see  Biihler, 
The  Laws  of  Manu).  Indeed  the  parvan  and  Manu  code  would  seem  to  quote 
each  other. 

The  book  is  an  enormous  epic  on  gifts.  It  is  very  popular  in  India.  The 
poem  relates  how  it  was  recited  in  tragic  circumstances  to  Yudhisthira, 
the  great  king  and  incarnation  of  Dharma,  by  the  seer-king  Bhisma,  on 
his  bed  of  arrows  at  the  time  of  his  death. 

**  It  is  clear  that  if  not  the  rules,  at  least  the  publication  of  the  castras 
and  epics  are  posterior  to  the  struggle  against  Buddhism  to  which  they 
refer.  The  Anuc.  is  full  of  references  to  Buddhism  (see  specially  Adhyaya, 
120).  Perhaps  indeed  the  definitive  publication  was  as  late  as  to  allow 
allusion  to  Christianity  in  reference  to  the  theory  of  gifts  in  the  same  parvan, 
114,  where  Vyasa  adds:  'That  is  the  law  subtly  taught  .  .  .  that  he  does 
naught  to  others  which  he  would  not  have  done  to  himself — that  is  the 
law  {dharma)  in  brief  (1.  5673).  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  conceivable  that 
the  Brahmins,  so  fond  of  proverbs  and  dicta,  arrived  themselves  at  this 
idea.  The  preceding  line  has  a  notably  Brahminic  flavour:  'Such  a  one 
takes  desire  as  his  guide  (and  is  wrong).  In  the  refusal  and  in  the  gift,  in 
luck  and  in  misfortune,  in  pleasure  and  in  misery  it  is  in  refusing  (things) 
to  himself  that  a  man  measures  them.'  The  commentary  of  Nilakawtha  is 
not  Christian:  'As  one  behaves  to  others,  so  (others  behave  to  him).  It  is 
by  feeling  how  one  would  take  a  refusal  after  having  solicited  .  .  .  that  one 
sees  it  is  necessary  to  give.' 

*'  We  do  not  mean  that  from  the  very  ancient  days  of  the  publication 
of  the  Rg  Veda  the  Aryans  in  North-East  India  had  no  concept  of  the 
market,  merchant,  price,  money  or  sale  (see  Zimmern,  Altindisches  Leben, 
pp.  257  ff.) :  Rg  Veda,  IV,  24,  9.  The  Atharva  Veda  is  familiar  with  this 
economy.  Indra  himself  is  a  mei'chant  {Kaucika-sutra,  VII,  i.  Hymn  III,  15, 
the  ritual  of  a  man  going  to  a  sale) . 

Nor  do  we  infer  that  this  was  the  only  origin  of  the  contract  in  India, 


CH.  Ill  NOTES  123 

nor  that  India  had  no  other  forms  of  obligation.  We  seek  only  to  show  the 
existence,  beside  these  laws,  of  another  system. 

*'  In  particular  there  must  have  been — as  with  the  aborigines  today — 
total  prestation  of  clans  and  villages.  The  prohibition  on  Brahmins  {Vasistha, 
14,  10  and  Gautama,  XIII,  17;  Manu,  IV,  217)  against  accepting  anything 
from  'crowds',  partaking  in  feasts  offered  by  them,  certainly  points  to 
customs  of  this  sort. 

**  E.g.  the  adanam,  gifts  made  by  friends  to  parents  of  young  initiates, 
betrothed  persons,  etc.,  is  identical,  even  in  name,  to  the  Germanic  Gaben 
which  we  mention  later  (see  Oldenburg,  Sacred  Books  of  India,  in  Grhyasutra 
(domestic  ritual).  Another  example,  honour  from  gifts  (of  food),  Anuc, 
1.  5850:  'Honoured,  they  honour,  decorated,  they  decorate,  the  giver 
everywhere  is  glorified.' 

**  An  etymological  and  semantic  study  would  provide  results  analogous 
to  those  we  obtained  on  Roman  law.  The  oldest  Vedic  documents  are  full 
of  words  whose  derivations  are  even  clearer  than  those  of  the  Latin  words 
we  discussed,  and  all  presuppose — even  those  concerning  the  market  and 
sale — another  system  where  exchanges,  gifts  and  wagers  took  the  place  of 
the  contracts  we  normally  think  of  when  we  speak  of  these  matters.  Much 
has  been  made  of  the  uncertainty  (general  in  Indo-European  languages) 
of  the  meaning  of  the  Sanskrit  word  which  we  translate  as  'to  give'— </a, 
and  its  numerous  derivatives. 

Another  example  we  may  take  are  the  Vedic  words  which  best  represent 
the  technical  act  of  sale ;  these  are  parada  culkaya,  to  sell  at  a  price,  and  all 
the  words  derived  from  pan,  e.g.  pani,  merchant.  Parada  includes  da,  and 
culka,  which  has  the  technical  sense  of  the  Latin  pretium,  means  actually 
price  of  a  fiancee,  payment  for  sexual  services,  tax  and  tribute.  Pan  which 
gives  pani  (merchant,  greedy,  and  a  name  for  strangers)  in  the  Rg  Veda, 
and  the  word  for  money,  pana,  later  karsapana,  means  to  sell  as  well  as 
gamble,  bet,  struggle  for  something,  give,  exchange,  risk,  dare,  gain,  stake. 
Pana,  money,  means  also  thing  sold,  payment,  object  of  bet  or  gamble, 
gambhng  house  and  alms-house.  This  vocabulary  links  ideas  which  are 
found  together  only  in  the  potlatch.  They  reveal  the  original  system  upon 
which  was  based  the  later  system  of  sale  and  purchase  in  its  proper  sense. 
But  this  etymological  reconstruction  is  unnecessary  with  Hindu  material. 

"•  See  resume  of  the  epic  in  Mahabharata,  Andiparvan,  6. 

*^  See,  e.g.,  the  legend  of  Hariccandra,5'wZ»/za-/)aroan,  Mahabharata,  Book  II, 
12;  and  Virata-parvan,  72. 

**  We  must  admit  that  on  the  obligation  to  make  return  gifts — our 
main  subject — there  are  few  facts  from  Hindu  law  except  perhaps  in  Manu, 
VIII,  213.  The  clearest  reference  consists  in  a  rule  forbidding  the  return 
of  gifts.  It  seems  that  originally  the  funerary  craddha,  the  feast  of  the  dead 
so  highly  developed  by  the  Brahmins,  was  an  opportunity  to  invite  oneself 
and  to  make  invitations  in  return.  It  was  formally  forbidden  to  proceed  in 
this  manner.  Anuc.,  431 1,  4315:  'He  who  invites  only  friends  to  the  craddha 
does  not  go  to  heaven.  One  must  invite  neither  friends  nor  enemies,  but 
n'.utrals.'  This  prohibition  was  probably  revolutionary.  But  the  poet 
connects  it  with  a  definite  school  and  period  {Vaikhansa  Cruti,  1.  4323). 


124  THEGIFT  CH.  Ill 

Evil  Brahmins  in  fact  oblige  the  gods  and  spirits  to  make  returns  on  presents 
given  them.  Most  people  doubtless  continued  to  invite  friends  to  the 
festival — and  they  still  do  so  in  India.  But  although  the  Brahmins  did  not 
return  presents,  did  not  invite — indeed  did  not  receive — there  are  plenty 
of  documents  in  their  codes  to  illustrate  our  case. 

"  Vasistha  Dharma,  XXIX,  i,  8,  9,  11-19.  Cf  Anuc,  64-9.  This  whole 
section  seems  to  be  a  sort  of  litany;  it  is  part  astrological  and  starts  with  a 
danakalpa  determining  the  constellations  beneath  which  what  people  should 
give  what  things. 

^^  Anuc,  3212:  even  food  offered  to  dogs,  or  to  one  who  cooks  for  dogs, 
cvapaka.  See  the  general  principles  on  the  way  in  which  one  regains  things 
given  away  in  the  series  of  reincarnations ;  sanction  on  the  miser,  who  is 
reborn  in  a  poor  family  (XIII,  145). 

"•^  Anuc.,  3135,  cf  3162. 

^«  This  whole  parvan,  this  song  of  Mahabharata  is  an  answer  to  the 
question:  how  does  one  acquire  Fortune,  Cri,  the  unstable  goddess?  A 
first  answer  is  that  Cri  lives  among  cattle,  in  their  dung  and  their  urine, 
where  the  cattle,  as  goddesses,  have  permitted  her  to  reside.  Thus  to  give 
a  cow  assures  happiness  (1.  82).  A  second  answer,  fundamentally  Hindu 
(1.  163),  teaches  that  the  secret  of  Fortune  and  Happiness  is  to  give,  not  to 
keep,  not  to  seek  but  to  distribute  it  that  it  may  return  in  this  world  of  its 
own  accord  in  the  form  of  the  gift  rendered  and  in  the  other  world.  Self- 
renunciation  and  getting  only  to  give,  this  is  the  law  of  nature,  the  real 
source  of  profit  (5657) :  'Every  man  should  make  his  days  fertile  by  giving 
away  food.' 

*'  3136 — this  stanza  is  called  a  gatha.  It  is  not  a  cloka;  thus  it  derives 
from  an  ancient  tradition.  I  believe,  moreover,  that  the  first  half-line 
mamevadattha,  mam  dattha,  mam  dattva  mamevapsyaya  can  be  taken  separately 
from  the  second.  Line  3132  does  so  in  advance:  'Like  a  cow  running  to 
her  calf,  her  udders  dropping  milk,  so  the  blessed  earth  runs  towards  the 
earth-giver.' 

**  Baudhayana  Dh.,  su.  11,  18 — contemporary  not  only  with  these  rules 
of  hospitality  but  also  with  the  cult  of  food,  which  can  be  said  to  be  con- 
temporary with  later  forms  of  Vedic  religion  and  to  have  lasted  until 
Vishnuism  when  it  disintegrated.  Angihotra  are  Brahminic  sacrifices,  late 
Vedic  period.  Cf.  Baudh.  Dh.,  su.  11,  6,  41-2 ;  cf.  Taittiriya  Aranyaka,  VIII,  2. 

"*  The  whole  thing  is  exposed  in  the  intercourse  between  the  rsi  Maitreya 
and  Vyasa,  the  incarnation  of  ICrsna  Draipayana  {Anuc.,  XIII,  120-1). 
Here  there  is  a  trace  of  the  struggle  between  Brahminism  and  Buddhism 
(1.  5802) ;  and  also  allusion  to  a  period  where  Krishnaism  is  victorious. 
But  the  doctrine  is  ancient  Brahminic  theology  and  the  most  ancient 
morality  of  India. 

«"  Ibid.,  5831.  Read  the  Calcutta  edition  annam  in  place  of  the  Bombay 
artham.  The  second  half-line  is  obscure :  'This  food  which  he  eats,  in  whom 
it  is  food,  he  is  the  assassin  who  is  killed,  the  fool.'  The  two  following  lines 
are  also  enigmatic  but  express  the  idea  more  clearly  and  allude  to  a  doctrine 
that  had  a  name,  that  of  a  rsi  (5834) :  'The  wise  man  eating  food  gives  it 
rebirth,  and  in  its  turn,  food  gives  him  rebirth'  (5863).  'For  the  merit  of 


CH.  Ill  NOTES  125 

the  donor  is  the  merit  of  the  recipient  (and  vice  versa)  for  here  is  but  one 
wheel  turning  in  one  direction.'  The  rendering  of  Pratap  {Mahabharata)  is 
much  paraphrased  but  based  on  good  commentaries. 

*^  Atharvaveda,  V,  18,  3. 

•*  I,  5,  16;  cf.  above  aeterna  auctoritas  of  the  stolen  res. 

•'  70.  Reference  is  to  a  gift  of  cattle,  of  which  the  ritual  is  given  in  69. 

•*  'The  property  of  the  Brahmin  kills  like  the  cow  of  the  Brahmin  (kills) 
Nrga'— 1.  3462,  cf.  3519  . 

•*  Anuc,  72,  76-7.  These  rules  are  given  with  a  plethora  of  detail — 
improbable  and  no  doubt  purely  theoretical.  The  ritual  is  attributed  to 
the  school  of  Brhaspati.  It  lasts  three  days  and  nights  before  the  event  and 
three  days  after  it;  at  times  it  even  lasts  ten  days  (3532,  3517,  3597). 

•'  He  lived  in  a  continual  giving  of  cattle — gavam  pradana,  3695. 

•'  This  is  also  a  purifying  ritual.  He  is  delivered  of  all  sin  (3673). 

*^  Samanga  (having  all  his  limbs),  Bahula  (broad,  fat),  1.  3670.  Cf. 
1.  6042,  the  cattle  say:  ''Bahula,  Samanga.  You  have  no  fear,  you  are  pacified, 
you  are  a  good  friend.'  The  epic  mentions  that  these  are  names  from  the 
Veda  and  Cruti.  The  sacred  names  are  in  fact  found  in  Atharvaveda,  V,  4,  18. 

'*  'Giver  of  you,  I  am  giver  of  myself',  3676. 

'°  The  act  of  taking;  the  word  is  like  accipere,  Aa/^tj3avetv,  etc. 

"^  Line  3677.  The  ritual  shows  that  one  can  offer  cattle  'in  the  shape 
of  a  cake  of  simsim  or  rancid  butter'  or  in  gold  or  silver;  in  which  case 
these  were  treated  as  real  cattle  (3523,  3839).  The  rites  of  the  transaction 
are  rather  better  perfected.  Ritual  names  are  given  to  these  cattle;  one 
means  'the  Future'.  The  sojourn  among  cattle  and  the  'cattle  oath'  are 
marked. 

'*  Ap.  Dh.,  su.  I,  17;  Manu,  X,  86-95.  The  Brahmin  can  sell  what  has 
not  been  bought. 

'*  Ap.  Dh.,  su.  I,  18,  I ;  Gautama  Dh.,  su.  XVH,  3.  Cf.  Anuc,  93-4. 

'*  Ap.  Dh.,  su.  I,  19,  where  Kanva,  another  Brahminic  school,  is  quoted. 

'*  Manu,  IV,  p.  233. 

"  Gautama  Dh.,  su.  XVII,  6,  7 ;  Manu,  IV,  253.  List  of  people  from 
whom  the  Brahmins  may  not  receive:  Gautama  Dh.,  XVII,  cf.  Manu,  IV, 

215-7- 

'^  List  of  things  that  must  be  refused:  Ap.,  I,  18;  Gautama,  XVII. 
Cf.  Manu,  IV,  247-50. 

''^  Anuc.,  136;  cf.  Manu,  IV,  p.  250;  X,  pp.  101-2;  Ap.  Dh.,  I,  18,  5-8; 
Gautama,  VII,  4-5. 

''"  Baudh.  Dh.,  su.  11,  5,  8;  Recitation  of  Taratsamandi,  as  Rg  Veda, 
IX,  58. 

*"  'The  energy  and  brilliance  of  the  sages  are  spoiled  by  the  fact  that 
they  receive'.  'Guard  thyself,  O  King,  from  those  who  will  not  receive' 
{Anuc.,  2164). 

"  Gautama,  XVII,  19;  Ap.,  I,  17.  Etiquette  of  the  gift,  Manu,  VII,  p.  86. 

**  Krodho  hantiyad  danam,  'Anger  kills  the  gift',  Anuc,  3638. 

^^  Ap.,  II,  6,  19;  cf.  Manu,  III,  5,  8,  with  absurd  theological  interpre- 
tation: 'one  eats  the  fault  of  one's  host'.  This  refers  to  the  general  pro- 
hibition on  Brahmins  against  exercising  an  essential  trade  which  they  still 


126  THE    GIFT  CH.  Ill 

exercise,  although  they  are  reputed  not  to — the  'eating'  of  sins.  This  would 
mean  that  no  good  came  of  the  gift  for  either  of  the  parties. 

**  One  is  reborn  in  the  other  world  with  the  nature  of  those  whose  food 
one  accepts,  or  of  those  whose  food  is  in  one's  stomach,  or  with  the  nature 
of  the  food  itself. 

**  The  whole  theory  is  summed  up  in  the  fairly  late  Anuc,  131,  under 
the  title  of  danadharma  (6278) :  'What  gifts,  to  whom,  when  and  by  whom'. 
The  five  motives  of  gift -giving  are  set  out :  duty,  when  one  gives  spontane- 
ously to  Brahmins;  self-interest  ('he  gives  me,  he  gave  me,  he  will  give  me') ; 
fear  ('I  am  not  his,  he  is  not  mine,  he  could  harm  me');  love  ('he  is  dear 
to  me  and  I  to  him' — 'he  gives  without  delay') ;  and  pity  ('he  is  poor  and 
is  satisfied  with  little'). 

^*  Line  5834.  One  might  also  study  the  ritual  by  which  the  thing  given 
is  purified — which  is  also  clearly  a  means  of  detaching  it  from  the  donor. 
It  is  sprinkled  with  water  by  means  of  a  blade  of  grass,  kuca.  For  food  see 
Gautama,  V,  21,  18-9;  Ap.,  II,  9,  8.  Cf.  water  purifying  debt,  Anuc,  69,  21, 
and  comments,  Pratap,  p.  313. 

8'  The  data  are  fairly  recent:  our  Edda  songs  date  from  a  time  after  the 
conversion  of  the  Scandinavians  to  Christianity.  But  the  age  of  the  tradition 
may  be  much  earlier,  and  even  the  oldest  known  form  of  the  tradition  may 
differ  from  the  institutions  them-selves.  But  there  is  no  danger  in  the  use  of 
the  facts;  for  some  of  the  gifts  which  have  such  an  important  place  in  the 
customs  we  describe  are  among  the  earliest  institutions  observed  among 
the  Germanic  tribes.  Tacitus  describes  two  forms:  marriage  gifts  and  the 
way  in  which  they  return  to  the  givers  {Germania,  XVIII);  and  gifts  of 
noblemen,  particularly  those  given  to  or  by  chiefs  (ibid.,  XV).  If  these 
customs  remained  as  long  as  to  enable  us  to  observe  traces  of  them  it  means 
surely  that  they  were  solidly  implanted  in  Germanic  society. 

8  8  See  Schrader  and  his  references  in  Reallexikon  der  Indogermanisches 
Altertumskunde  under  Markt,  Kauf. 

^*  Kauf  and  its  derivatives  come  from  the  Latin  caupo,  merchant.  The 
doubt  about  the  meanings  of  the  words  leihen,  lehnen,  Lohn,  biirgen,  borgen, 
etc.,  is  recognized  and  shows  that  their  technical  use  is  recent. 

*"  Here  we  do  not  raise  the  question  oi  geschlossene  Hauswirtschaft — closed 
economy — cf.  Biicher,  Entstehung  der  Volkswirtschaft.  There  were  two  clans 
in  a  society  and  they  must  have  made  contracts  and  exchanges  not  only 
of  wives  (exogamy)  and  ritual,  but  also  of  goods  at  certain  periods  of  the 
year  and  on  certain  occasions.  The  rest  of  the  time  the  family  lived  to  itself, 
but  it  never  lived  to  itself  at  all  seasons. 

*i  See  Kluge  and  other  etymological  dictionaries  of  the  Germanic 
languages.  See  Von  Amira  on  Abgabe,  Ausgabe,  Morgengabe  {Handbuch 
Hermann  Paul). 

•2  The  best  works  are  still :  J.  Grimm,  'Schenken  und  Geben\  Kleine  Schriften, 
Vol.  II,  p.  174;  Brunner,  Deutsche  Rechtsbegriffe  besch.  Eigentum.  See  also 
Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechtsalterthiimer,  Vol.  I,  p.  246,  cf.  p.  297  on  Bete,  Gabe. 
The  hypothesis  on  the  development  of  the  obligatory  from  the  unconditional 
gift  is  untenable.  Both  kinds  have  always  existed  and  in  German  law  their 
character  has  always  been  fused. 


CH.  iir  Notes  127 

*'  'Zur  Geschichte  des  Schenkens',  Steinhausen  ^eitschrift  fiir  Kultur- 
geschichte,  V,  i8  ff. 

**  E.  Mayer,  Deutsche  Volkskunde,  pp.  115,  168,  181,  183,  and  all  hand- 
books of  Germanic  folklore. 

*^  Here  is  another  answer  to  van  Ossenbruggen's  query  on  the  magical 
and  legal  nature  of  bridewealth.  See  the  theory  on  the  many  prestations 
made  to  or  by  spouses  in  Morocco  in  Westermarck,  Marriage  Ceremonies  in 
Morocco,  pp.  361  ff. 

•*  In  what  follows  we  keep  the  pledge  distinct  from  the  arrhes  although 
this,  of  Semitic  origin  (as  the  Greek  and  Latin  words  indicate)  was  known 
to  later  Germanic  law.  It  has  even  become  confused  with  'gift',  e.g.  Handgeld 
is  Harren  in  some  Tyrolese  dialects. 

We  omit  to  show  also  the  importance  of  the  notion  of  the  pledge  in 
marriage:  we  simply  remark  that  in  some  Germanic  dialects  bridewealth 
is  Pfand,  Wetten,  Trugge  and  Ehehalter. 

*'  A.S.,  IX,  29  ff.  Cf  Kovalewski,  Coutume  contemporaine  et  Lai  ancienne, 
pp.  Ill  fT. 

On  the  Germanic  wadium,  see  Thevenin,  'Contributions  a  1' etude  du 
Droit  germanique',  Nouv.  Rev.  Hist.  Droit,  IV,  72 ;  Grimm,  Deutsche  Rechts- 
alterthiimer.  Vol.  I,  pp.  209-13;  Von  Amira,  'Obligationen  Recht',  Hdb. 
Hermann  Paul,  Vol.  I,  pp.  248,  254.  On  wadiatio,  see  Davy,  A.S.,  XII,  pp. 
522  ff. 

•*  Brissaud,  Manuel  d^Histoire  du  Droit  frangais,  1904,  p.  1381.  Huvelin 
interprets  this  fact  as  a  degeneration  of  the  primitive  magical  rite  into  a 
simple  moral  theme;  but  this  is  only  a  partial  explanation  and  does  not 
exclude  the  possibility  of  our  proposals. 

*'  We  return  later  to  the  derivations  of  'wedding'  and  '  Wette\  The 
ambiguity  of  'wager'  and  'contract'  is  notable  even  in  French,  e.g.  se  dejier 
and  defier. 

^"^  On  festuca  notata  see  Heusler,  Institutionen,  Vol.  I,  pp.  76  ff.  Huvelin 
neglects  the  custom  of  tallies. 

'"^  Melanges  Ch.  Andler,  Strasburg,  1924.  We  are  asked  why  we  do  not 
examine  the  etymology  of  gift  as  coming  from  the  Latin  dosis,  Greek  Socris, 
a  dose  (of  poison).  It  would  suppose  that  High  and  Low  German  had 
retained  a  scientific  word  for  a  common  event,  and  this  is  contrary  to 
normal  semantic  rules.  Moreover,  one  would  have  to  explain  the  choice 
of  the  word  Gift.  Finally,  the  Latin  and  Greek  dosis,  meaning  poison,  shows 
that  with  the  Ancients  as  well  there  was  association  of  ideas  and  moral 
rules  of  the  kind  we  are  describing. 

We  compare  the  uncertainty  of  the  meaning  of  Gift  with  that  of  the 
Latin  venenum  and  the  Greek  (^iXrpov  and  <f)dp(JLaKov.  Cf.  also  venia,  venus, 
venenum — vanati  (Sanskrit,  to  give  pleasure)  and  gewinnen  and  win. 

^°^  Reginsmal,  7.  The  gods  have  killed  Otr,  son  of  Hreidmar,  and  have 
been  obliged  to  redeem  themselves  by  covering  Otr's  skin  with  gold.  But 
the  god  Loki  curses  the  gold,  and  Hreidmar  answers  with  the  words  quoted. 
We  owe  this  observation  to  Cohen  who  notes  that  'of  a  benevolent  heart' 
— af  heilom  hug — actually  means  'of  a  lucky  disposition'. 


128  THE    GIFT  CH.  IV 

***  The  Chinese  law  of  real  estate,  like  Germanic  and  old  French  law, 
recognizes  the  right  which  relatives — even  distant — have  to  repurchase 
property  which  ought  not  to  have  passed  from  the  hereditary  line;  see 
Hoang,  'Notions  techniques  sur  la  Propriete  en  Chine',  VarietSs  sinologues, 
1897,  pp.  8,  9.  We  do  not  pay  much  attention  to  this.  The  sale  of  land  is  a 
recent  thing,  specially  in  China.  Up  to  the  time  of  Roman  law,  and  again 
in  old  French  and  Germanic  laws,  it  was  surrounded  by  restrictions  deriving 
from  community  in  family  life,  and  the  profound  attachment  of  family  to 
land  and  vice  versa.  Old  and  new  laws  concerning  the  homestead,  and 
recent  French  legislation  on  inalienable  family  property,  are  a  perpetuation 
of  an  ancient  state  of  affairs. 

10*  Hoang,  ibid.,  pp.  10,  109,  133.  I  owe  these  facts  to  Mestre  and 
Granet. 

105  Origin  and  Development  of  Moral  Ideas,  Vol.  I,  p.  594.  Westermarck 
felt  that  there  was  a  problem  of  the  sort  we  are  tackling  but  treated  it  only 
from  the  point  of  view  of  laws  of  hospitality.  Read,  however,  his  important 
observation  on  the  Moroccan  custom  of  ar  (sacrifice  occasioning  constraint 
to  the  supplicant,  p.  386)  and  on  the  principle:  'God  and  food  will  pay 
him'  (remarkably  similar  to  Hindu).  Marriage  Ceremonies  in  Morocco,  p.  365; 
cf.  Anthropological  Essays  to  E.  B.  Tylor,  pp.  373  ff. 


Chapter  IV 

*  Cf.  Koran,  sura  H;  cf.  Kohler  in  Jewish  Encyclopedia,  Vol.  I,  p.  465. 

*  WiUiam  James,  Principles  of  Psychology,  Vol.  H,  p.  409. 

*  Kruyt,  Koopen,  p.  12  of  extract,  for  similar  facts  from  Celebes.  Cf. 
'De  Toradja's  .  .  .',  Tijd.  v.  Kon.  Batav.  Gen.,  LXHI,  2,  p.  299:  rite  for 
bringing  buffalo  to  stable;  p.  296,  ritual  for  buying  a  dog  limb  by  limb; 
p.  281,  the  cat  is  not  sold,  on  any  pretext,  but  loans  itself 

*  Of  course  we  do  not  imply  any  destruction ;  the  legal  principles  of  the 
market,  of  buying  and  selling,  which  are  the  indispensable  conditions  for 
the  formation  of  capital,  can  and  must  exist  beside  other  new  and  old 
principles. 

Yet  the  moralist  and  legislator  should  not  be  bound  in  by  so-called 
principles  of  natural  law.  The  distinction  between  real  and  personal  law 
should  be  considered  as  a  theoretical  abstraction  derived  from  some  of  our 
laws.  It  should  be  allowed  to  exist,  but  kept  in  its  proper  place. 

«  Roth,  'Games'  in  Bulletin  of  the  Ethnology  of  Queensland,  no.  28,  p.  23. 
The  announcement  of  the  name  of  the  visiting  clan  is  a  common  custom 
in  East  Australia  and  is  connected  with  the  honour  and  virtue  of  the  name. 
The  last  sentence  suggests  that  betrothals  are  contracted  through  the 
exchange  of  gifts. 

«  Radin,  'Winnebago  Tribe',  A.R.B.A.E.,  XXXVII,  320  ff.  See  article 
'Etiquette'  in  Hodge,  Handbook  of  American  Indians. 

">  Ibid.,  p.  326.  Exceptionally  two  chiefs  invited  were  members  of  the 
Snake  Clan.  OF.  almost  identical  speeches  in  a  funeral  feast:  Tlingit  T. 
and  M.,  p.  372. 


CH.  IV  NOTES  129 

'  Taylor,  Te  ika  a  Mani,  p.  130,  gives  this  translation,  but  the  literal 
rendering  is  probably  as  follows:  *As  much  as  Maru  gives,  so  much  Maru 
receives,  and  all  is  well'  (Maru  is  god  of  war  and  justice). 

*  Biicher,  Entstehung  der  Volkswirtschqft,  3rd  edn.,  p.  73,  saw  these 
economic  phenomena  but  underestimated  their  importance,  reducing  them 
all  to  a  matter  of  hospitality. 

^'^  Argonauts,  pp.  167  ff.;  Primitive  Ec,  1921.  See  Frazer's  preface  to 
Argonauts. 

^^  One  of  the  most  extravagant  we  can  quote  is  the  sacrifice  of  dogs 
among  the  Chukchee.  The  owners  of  the  best  kennels  destroy  their  whole 
teams  and  sledges  and  have  to  buy  new  ones. 

^*  Argonauts,  p.  95.  Cf.  Preface. 

^'  Les  Formes  Elementaries  de  la  Vie  religieuse,  p.  598. 

"  Digest,  XVIII,  I,  de  contr.  emt.  Paul  us  explains  the  great  Roman 
debate  on  whether  or  not  permutatio  was  a  sale.  The  whole  passage  is  of 
interest — even  the  mistake  which  the  legal  scholar  makes  in  his  interpreta- 
tion of  Homer,  Iliad,  VII,  472-5:  olvlovto  certainly  means  to  buy,  tut 
Greek  money  was  bronze,  iron,  skins,  cows  and  slaves,  all  having  pre- 
determined values. 

^^  Pol.,  Book  I,  1257;  note  the  word  fjueTaSocris- 

^''Argonauts,  p.  177.  Note  that  in  this  case  there  is  no  sale  for  there  is 
no  exchange  of  vajigu'a.  The  Trobrianders  do  not  go  so  far  as  to  use  money 
in  exchange. 

^^  Ibid.,  p.  179;  cf.  p.  183  for  payment  of  a  kind  of  licit  prostitution  of 
unmarried  girls. 

^*  Cf  ibid.,  p.  81.  Sagali  (cf.  hakari)  means  distribution. 

^'  Cf.  ibid.,  p.  82,  in  particular  the  gift  oi  urigubu  to  the  brother-in-law; 
harvest  products  in  exchange  for  labour. 

*°  The  division  of  labour  and  how  it  works  in  the  inter-clan  Tsimshian 
feast  is  admirably  described  in  a  potlatch  myth  in  Tsim.  Myth.,  p.  274, 
cf.  p.  378.  There  are  many  examples  like  this.  These  economic  institutions 
exist  even  with  societies  much  less  developed,  e.g.  Australia — the  remark- 
able situation  of  a  local  group  possessing  a  deposit  of  red  ochre  ( Aiston  and 
Home,  Savage  Life  in  C.  Australia,  London,  1924,  pp.  81,  130). 

^^  The  equivalence  in  Germanic  languages  of  the  words  token  and 
Zeichen  for  money  in  general  is  a  survival  of  these  institutions.  The  mark 
on  money  and  the  pledge  it  is  are  the  same  thing,  just  as  a  man's  signature 
is  also  a  mark  of  his  responsibility. 

**  Foi  Juree,  pp.  344  ff.  In  'Des  Clans  aux  Empires',  EUments  de  Sociologie, 
Vol.  I,  he  exaggerates  the  importance  of  these  points.  The  potlatch  is 
useful  for  establishing  the  hierarchy  and  does  often  establish  it,  but  this  is 
not  a  necessary  element.  African  societies  either  do  not  have  the  potlatch, 
or  have  it  only  slightly  developed,  or  perhaps  have  lost  it;  yet  they  have 
all  possible  kinds  of  political  organization. 

^^  Argonauts,  pp.  199-201,  203.  The  'mountain'  here  is  the  d'Entre- 
casteaux  group.  The  canoe  will  sink  beneath  the  weight  of  stuff  brought 
back  from  the  kula;  cf.  pp.  200,  441-2:  play  on  the  word  'foam'. 


130  '  THEGIFT  CH.  IV 

"  We  should  perhaps  also  have  studied  Micronesia.  There  is  a  money 
and  contract  system  of  first  importance  especially  at  Yap  and  the  Palaos. 
In  Indo-China  among  the  Mon-Khmer,  in  Assam  and  among  the  Tibeto- 
Burmans  are  also  institutions  of  this  kind.  The  Berbers,  finally,  have 
developed  the  remarkable  thaoussa  customs  (Westermarck,  Marriage 
Ceremonies  in  Morocco,  see  index  under  'present').  Old  Semitic  law  and 
Bedouin  custom  should  also  give  useful  material. 

2*  See  the  'ritual  of  beauty'  in  the  Trobriand  kula,  Argonauts,  pp.  334, 
336:  'Our  partner  looks  at  us,  sees  our  faces  are  beautiful;  he  throws  the 
vaygu'a  at  us.'  Cf.  Thurnwald  on  the  use  of  silver  as  ornament:  Forschungen, 
Vol.  Ill,  p.  39;  p.  35,  the  expression  Prachtbaum  to  denote  a  man  or  woman 
decorated  witli  .noney.  The  chief  is  the  'tree',  I,  p.  298;  and  the  ornamented 
man  lets  forth  a  perfume,  p.  192. 

26  Ibid.,  Ill,  p.  36. 

2'  Argonauts,  p.  246. 

^^  Samoa-Inseln,  III,  Tab.  35. 

*»  Layamori's  Brut,  11.  22336  ff.,  9994  flf. 


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